Two Peas In A Pod
by Fictionnaire
Summary: Just a look at Abby and Tony post episodes. No sexual relationship, just brother/sister thing. 1st chapter contains some spoilers to Ice Queen/Meltdown
1. Post Ice QueenMeltdown

_**Two Peas In A Pod**_

_A/N: This is dedicated to suecrockett who admits to being a TABBY shipper. So here's a series of tags… But no sexual relationships, just as brother and sister. These 'tags' are post episodes._

Chapter 1: Guys & Girls  
**Post – Ice Queen/Meltdown  
A/N 2: Tony and Abby discuss Harm, Mac, Faith and Bud  
Spoilers: Ice Queen/Meltdown**

Tony sat down in the bullpen with a sigh. Blackadder had gone for the night and Gibbs had returned from interrogating Abama Bin Atwa and Tony was pleased with his small stint as team leader. Unfortunately, Vivian Blackadder didn't comment as she was still fuming about Atwa for sure but the feisty former FBI agent would get over it.

"What are you doing here Tony?" Abby saw the lone figure in the Bullpen.

"Hey Abs," Tony answered. "I was just resting my feet and eyes before I drive home," he told her. Walking around checking bridge railings for blood was more tiring than it sounded that accompanied by the driving made him feel exhausted.

"Want some company?" Abby asked as she sat on the desk.

"I would love a foot massage," Tony responded quickly as he leaned back in his chair hopefully. There was no harm in putting the request on the table. He looked at Abby with the most pathetic look he could muster.

"Uh, no way Tony," she replied. That was something she wasn't use to doing and it was one of the few things she hadn't wanted to learn. Touching people's feet like that was too hinky even for her.

"Worth a shot," Tony flashed Abby a smile. "Thank God we're done with JAG right now," he sighed. Lawyers were self centered and too far up themselves for Tony's liking. There wasn't a lawyer he liked. Except for Mac probably. "Sarah looked pretty good," he smiled again.

"Oh really," Abby laughed. "I thought Faith Coleman would tickle your fancy," she said as she tried to keep the laughter out of her voice.

"That hurts Abby," Tony's seriousness was cut short by a chuckle of his own as he pictured it. He shook his head to get the mental picture out of his head. "I don't think I can get with anyone who'd be cleaning as we do the _deed_. I'd suggest doggie-style but I think she'd be physically sickened by the thought," Tony said seriously before laughing again. "What about you? Who do you like Abs?" He asked.

"McBurney is cute," Abby answered with a cheeky smile. "Harmon Rabb is really cute to but he's too tall. I really like my men a little shorter," she elaborated.

"Little whatshisname Roberts?" Tony waggled his eyebrows.

"Bud?" Abby thought deeply for a second. "Actually I like the experienced babyface look," she answered. "Even you have to admit that he's kind of cute," Abby continued.

"What about Admiral Chegwidden?" Tony asked.

"Oh, eww," Abby punched Tony in the arm.

"Oww, hey," Tony dramatically rubbed his hand. "That's not very nice," he smiled.

Abby sat back down. "Hey let's pair JAG with NCIS," she laughed. That was a thought that they could have fun with. "Let's start with Bud Roberts?" Abby suggested.

Tony seriously thought for a moment as he attempted to think of the best match. "How about with you? He looks like a good lackey. He'd be a great gopher boy for you," he suggested. "How about a little office romance?"

"Alrighty… I get Bud," Abby said happily. "Admiral Chegwidden?" There was a moment of silence. "Director Morrow," Abby and Tony said in unison before laughing.

"Who can we get for Gibbs?" Tony asked.

"Sarah Mackenzie?" Abby asked. She saw the disheartened look in Tony's eyes. "Don't worry. You can be her other man. It will be dangerous," Abby laughed.

Tony nodded. "I can get use to that Abs," he responded. That was an exciting thought. "Harmon Rabb," he said thoughtfully. "Who could he be paired up to?"

"I'd say Gibbs. But Gibbs and you already have Sarah," Abby frowned. "How about you take Sarah and Gibbs can have Rabb?" She asked.

"Sounds good to me," Tony said. "So there's you and Bud. Chegwidden and Morrow. Me and Mackenzie. Now there's Gibbs and Rabb. I think Gibbs and Rabb could be perfect for each other since they're as stubborn as each other," Tony thought again. "That would leave McBurney and Blackadder," he said.

"No!" Abby yelled. "I want McBurney," she whined.

"Alright you have McBurney and Blackadder can have Bud," Tony corrected the list. "That leaves poor Faith and Ducky," Tony laughed his head off. "Well at least that autopsy would always be cleaned and organized," he said.

"So… Faith and Ducky that could be known as Fu-," Abby covered her mouth as soon as she realized what their pairing could be called. "Me and McBurney… AbBurney. Bud and Blackadder… Would have to be Badder," she said.

"How about Bladder," Tony joked. "Because if this keeps up, my bladder will empty," he said.

"Bladder won't work," she said. "Gibbs and Rabb… Well that could be Ribbs. You and Sarah could be known as Sony," Abby said.

"Reminds me of a DVD player," Tony winced in response. "How about Torah. Almost like Torah Torah Torah," he laughed.

"Ok… Chegwidden and Tom Morrow… Chorrow?" Abby explained. "So we have Chorrow, Torah, Ribbs, Abburney and Badder," Abby said.

"And don't forget Fu-," Tony began to say.

"What are you two still doing here?" Gibbs strode into the bullpen.

"Just leaving now Boss," Tony answered. "So what did you think of Harm?" This earned Tony a playful punch to the arm.

"I like him," Gibbs got something from his draw.

"So you two hit it off then?" Tony asked.

"Get out of here," Gibbs responded impatiently. "Go home."

"On it, Boss," Tony said as he briskly walked to the elevator closely followed by Abby.

"On Mac, Tony?" Abby asked. Tony smacked her in the arm and she punched Tony back as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

A/N: Chapter 2 will contain minor spoilers for Yankee White


	2. Post Yankee White

_**Two Peas In A Pod**_

_**Chapter 2: There's A New Girl In Town  
**__**Post – Yankee White  
**__**Spoilers: Yankee White  
**__**Summary: Tony's afraid that Agent Todd will change things between he and Gibbs.**_

Tony huffed as he entered Abby's house. He was surprised that she answered the door this late at night. Didn't matter what the reason was, she always welcomed him with open arms. "What's the matter Tony?" Abby asked sleepily. It wasn't often that he saw her hair out of pigtails.

"I'm sorry," Tony said. He shouldn't have come. But unknown forces always drew him to her whenever he needed someone to chat to. Abby would have a field day is she heard him mention that. "I don't know what I'm doing here," Tony said.

"Come in Tony," her tone perked up. It never took much to perk her attitude up. "What's wrong?" Abby asked once she closed the door. There was an art form to trapping the senior field agent.

"I just want to talk," Tony said sheepishly as he walked behind Abby who was sitting on the couch. "On second thought it's late," he tried to back out of it. Fooling everyone was easy but Abby always saw straight through the façade.

"Anthony DiNozzo," Abby admonished. "You march right back here and talk to me mister," she ordered.

Tony laughed quietly and shook his head. Abby didn't allow him to pull that backtracking crap. Sometimes he was grateful for that. He stood behind her and began playing with her hair. "You know me too well Abby," he was lost in thought as she handed him a lackey band. "It took awhile to get use to things once Vivian left didn't it?" Tony asked as he placed one side of her hair into a pigtail and began working on the other side.

"It sure did," Abby lifted her legs and sat cross-legged. "But knew it was coming. Gibbs and her never saw eye to eye on a lot of things," Abby said as she remembered the simple argument in the bullpen that boiled over into a full blooded shouting match. It didn't take long for Blackadder to pull out the dark suit and go running back to the FBI. "I'm sure you're not over here to reminisce over Agent Blackadder," Abby observed as she handed him another band.

"You're right, Abs… As always," Tony said. "I received a call from Gibbs earlier. He's offered that Secret Service Agent Todd a job," he eventually got the words out. There was something unsettling about this chain of events. "And she accepted. Kate's going to be an NCIS Agent," Tony said with a certain amount of regret. "Don't get me wrong, I think she's completely capable of course," he added, wanting to make sure that Abby understood he wasn't questioning her ability.

"Ok…" Abby stood up and moved her head to make the pigtails bounce. "Your turn Mister," she told Tony as she pointed to the couch.

Tony gave her a quizzical look by raising the one eyebrow until it couldn't go any higher. "I don't have enough hair for pigtails Abs," he said before lowering the eyebrow.

"Then let me play with your hair," Abby responded seriously as she sat back down.

"What?" Tony answered.

"Lie here," Abby insisted in a tone that Tony just couldn't bring himself to disobey. He allowed Abby to maneuver his head onto her lap. At first it just felt odd but when she began playing with his hair with her fingers… It just felt natural. "What's this really about Tony?" Abby asked calmly.

Tony closed his eyes and bathed in the comfort. "Gibbs and I have been out in the field investigating crimes together for five months. Just him and me," Tony said eventually. It was odd talking so openly with another human being but Abby was his confidant. Of all the things he's told her, Abby had never judged or laughed at him. She was just there like she always was. "I'm just afraid that things will be different now," Tony confessed what he was fearing. He didn't want things to change. Their relationship had grown perfectly as Gibbs had become more than his Boss and mentor.

"Things are never going to change between you and Boss-man," Abby told him. "You'll always be his right hand man. His numero uno. His second in command," she assured him.

"Gibbs will get more professional if there's another team member," Tony said as he opened his eyes. "Then everything will change. Now, I know it won't be on purpose. But it will," he concluded with a certain extent of foreboding.

"As I said Tony. You and Gibbs will always be you and Gibbs," Abby wanted to convince him. Tony always acted all confident but always seemed afraid of falling out with Gibbs. Tony thought people didn't see how much he looked for Gibbs' approval. "Don't forget Tom Morrow watches over everything and that doesn't stop you and Gibbs from being you and Gibbs… You know?" She said.

"Do you really think so Abs?" Tony asked. He wanted reassurance again.

Abby knew he wanted reassurance and was willing to give it. "I know so Tony," she said quietly. "Come on. Gibbs will never stop treating you like he does. He sees you as a son Tony and you see him as a father figure… A role model," Abby always had a way of getting to the heart of the matter. "What do you think of Kate?" Abby moved on with the conversation after Tony remained silent.

"She can sure play with the big boys," Tony joked. "I honestly think Gibbs has met a worthy opponent," he smiled at the thought. Working alongside Agent Todd sure isn't going to be dull," he thought about what it was going to be like. "Kate could be fun," Tony added.

"Oh be nice, Tony," Abby said in a semi-serious tone. "I hope you make her feel welcomed," Abby could only hope.

"Oh, I'll make her feel welcome," Tony replied in a dangerous tone. "I'll make her feel really welcome," he reiterated before laughing.


	3. Post Hung Out To Dry

**Two Peas In A Pod**

**Chapter 3: Injured  
****Post – Hung Out To Dry  
****Summary: Tony is injured and Abby takes care of him.  
****Spoilers: Hung Out To Dry**

Tony limped into the bullpen. His ankle still hurt since being forced to parachute out of an airplane. A really sore ankle he could deal with, he sat down at his desk and used Kate's chair to keep his foot elevated. Recovering from the ankle was the easy part for sure… But then Gibbs for some reason insisted that he help finish building this treehouse for the son of the recently deceased marine. God knows why Gibbs wanted his help. Tony had never worked with wood in his life.

"Ow," Tony winced loudly. "Oww," he cried out as he played with his finger.

"Oh, Tony," Abby came running into the bullpen as soon as she heard him crying in pain. "You really should be on crutches," Abby admonished Tony for his stupid actions. "Because if you expect me to feel sorry for you. Don't. If you use crutches it won't hurt as much," she added.

"Ouch," Tony hissed as his face showed signs of pain.

"Tony," Abby looked on curiously.

"It's not my ankle Abs," Tony said sheepishly as he lifted his hand to show a couple of fingers he had splinters in. "Helping Gibbs building a house," he explained.

"Habitat for Humanity?" Abby asked. She wasn't informed of any goings on at the moment by the organization.

"Habitat for kiddy," Tony corrected.

Abby took a close look at Tony's hand. "Oh you poor thing," she thought for a moment. "Prep yourself for surgery," Abby told him. "I'll be back in a little bit."

Tony felt like getting out of there. He didn't like the idea or the way that Abby mentioned surgery. Fortunately or unfortunately Tony didn't have to wait too long for the energetic Abby to job back into the bullpen with a small first aid kit. She spread it out on Tony's desk.

"Pin," Abby ordered as she held her hand out. That was met by a very worried stare from Tony. "Pin," she repeated more sternly this time. Tony hand her the pin carefully and immediately began squinting in anticipation as Abby scratched at the skin around the finger. She had to fiercely hold onto Tony's hand as to keep him from withdrawing it. "Tweezers," she said finally.

"No! Wait!" Tony yelped. He was positive that his hand was scratched to shreds. Unfortunately now came the removing. "Ouch! Gentle!" Tony cried out.

"You're hopping around with a sprained ankle without a word but you're putting this performance on because of a couple of splinters," Abby shook her head.

"You did that on purpose!" Tony exclaimed as he almost freed the hand from Abby's grasp. "That hurt," he added with a pathetic puppy look.

"Settle down," Abby told him impatiently. "Look over that filing cabinet over there to distract yourself."

"Hey!" Tony said as he closed his eyes.

"All done," Abby clapped her hands as she put everything back into the little first aid kit. She still had hold of his hand. "Do you want me to kiss it better?" Abby asked in a serious tone.

Tony looked at her strangely. The question sounded absurd. "I've never heard anything so absurd in my life," Tony answered Abby.

"Oh, nobody's ever kissed your boo boos better?" Abby asked. Tony lowered his head in response. It was difficult to understand what Abby was trying to say. "I'm sorry Tony," she felt sad for him. It was moments like these that Tony inadvertently revealed just how bad Tony had had it as a child growing up. Abby leaned forward and kissed one of his sore spots. "Better?" She asked.

"As stupid as it sounds… It does," Tony shrugged his shoulders. He felt like an idiot but couldn't resist offering her the index finger. She had no problems pressing her lips against the sore finger as well.

"You better have a good explanation to why you're sucking on DiNozzo's fingers Abs," Gibbs bellowed as he walked into the bullpen. Sometimes he had the knack for walking into the bullpen at the most inopportune times. Gibbs never expected to walk in and find Abby kissing Tony's fingers. But oddly, it wasn't at all shocking.

"Tony had a couple of splinters," Abby said. "You know you really shouldn't have him building tree-houses with a badly sprained ankle," she admonished Gibbs the way only she could do.

"You don't saw wood or hammer nails with your foot Abs," Gibbs told him. "That doesn't explain why you're kissing his fingers," he fought to keep her on track.

"Nobody has never kissed one of Tony's boo boos better before," Abby said and Tony sighed and tried to hide.

"Is this true DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked. There was some pity in his voice. That statement was jut too unbelievable though.

"Yes Boss," Tony said as his face turned red with embarrassment.

Gibbs approached and looked at the finger that Abby still had hold of. Without warning he bent down and kissed the red mark on the finger. "Better?" Gibbs asked.

"Much," Tony managed to say while trying to avoid eye contact.

"Eww," Kate said as she entered. "Anybody care to tell me why you're all so intrigued in Tony's little finger?" She asked.

--------------------

A/N: Next Episode SeaDog.


	4. Post Seadog

_**Two Peas In A Pod 4**_

_**Chapter 4: Aussies and Leos  
**__**Post – Seadog  
**__**Minor Spoilers for Seadog.  
**__**Summary: Tony and Abby discuss Aussies as well as their thoughts on Local Leos.**_

"What were they like?" Abby sat on the edge of Tony's desk. She was sure she'd never met an Australian face to face. "Come on tell me," Abby pleaded with Tony. He had teased her about how he met a couple of Aussie gals on a boat near a crime scene. "Tell me all," Abby told him.

"Well they were having a Baaarbee," Tony did his best Australian accent. "They were talking about Prawwwns," the Australian girls had taught him to say those things.

"They were throwing prawns on Barbie dolls?" Abby raised her eyebrows.

"No… Baaaarbee," Tony said. "As in barbecue," he said. "Prawns are what they call shrimp," he told her. "And they have such a great outgoing personality," Tony smiled. "You know you could really pass yourself as an Austraylian," he couldn't help but laugh. "I think you'll really fit right in."

"You think?" Abby asked.

"Say that again," Tony said.

"What? You think?" Abby looked confused.

"Oh I thought I was talking to Gibbs then," Tony laughed. "Work on the Aussie accent a bit and you could be one of them," he explained. "Just remember that they never throw another shrimp on the Barbie and you'll be fine," he said.

"Prawns?" Abby asked.

"Prawwwns," Tony corrected.

"Prawwwns," Abby echoed.

"Now you got it," Tony clapped his hands quietly. "You can go to Austraylia tomorrow and blend in with all the local sheilas," he told her.

"Wouldn't that be fun?" Abby chuckled.

"Oh man, you should've seen Ducky today," Tony chuckled today. "He blew a casket over a local LEO," he said as he remembered Ducky's angry rant. "Said he wouldn't have been fit to be a crossing guard," Tony relayed that part of the rant.

"Ooh I wish I could've heard that," Abby responded while smiling. Ducky didn't usually lose his temper but when he did… It was entertaining to say the least. "Too bad you didn't catch it on camera phone," she frowned.

"I was busy at the time," Tony replied. "Next time I'll make sure I do," it would've been fun to post it on youtube or something like that. Nobody could rant better than Ducky when he got going. "The guy removed a victim's wallet without gloves and Ducky went nuts. You know, I've never seen Ducky lose it with anyone else besides local LEOS," Tony explained.

"Oh, that's no good," Abby said. "But have to admit that most local LEOS seem to get their law enforcement experience from CSI TV shows," she joked.

"Ducky accused him of getting his knowledge from Kojak reruns," Tony laughed as well. "I'm beginning to think that most of them are idiots. Almost rent-A-cop or worse… Straight out of the Police Academy movies," he told them. The LEO they had encountered sure had the shape to be in that movie.

"Couldn't have been that bad could it?" Abby grinned.

"Well he looked like he'd been to a few too many trips to the donut shop," Tony joked. It was a nutty time. "I wouldn't have minded if I got to see Ducky and the other guy duke it out," he took a moment to picture it.

"Who would've won?" Abby asked.

"Ducky of course," Tony answered. "Seriously, if Ducky would've gotten his hands on the LEO all hell would've broken loose," Tony said.

"And now the winner of this bout, by knockout is… Doctor Donald Ducky Mallard," Abby said loudly like a ring announcer. "Now, lets hear from the winner," Abby said.

"Thank you, thank you… My dear girl," Tony said in his best Ducky voice. Abby loved it when he did the voices. "You know this victory reminds me of the time I was in Venice fighting the prince of Turkey. Yes, back in 1977," Tony felt the strange sensation of someone boring a whole in the back of his head. "Gibbs is standing right behind me isn't he?" Tony asked.

Abby resisted the urge to laugh. "Guess again," he recognized it immediately as the voice of Ducky.

"About that," Tony turned around nervously.

"I'm not proud of my behavior today Anthony," Ducky said as he made his way through the bullpen. "My behavior was inexcusable," he said.

"Oh, come on Ducky," Abby stood beside Ducky with her arm draped around his shoulder. "From what I've heard, the man was an idiot. Maybe after your outburst he took in your words and will become a better LEO," she told him.

"Come on Ducky… Baaaarbeee at my place. We'll throw a couple of prawwwwns on the Baaaarbeee and dig into some real tucker. Tonight, we'll be Austraylians hey?" Tony said.

"Are you sure?" Ducky asked.

"Yay," Abby said. "But you have to act Austraylian," she told him.

"I don't know," Ducky replied with a fearful look in his eyes.

"No he doesn't Abs… We've got the man who beat the Prince of Turkey in Venice here," Tony said. "He can be himself after that," Tony said. "Come along Duck."

There were times when Ducky just couldn't refuse an invitation. Especially when Abby and Tony were issuing it. "Alright Abigail and Anthony," Ducky decided to play along with them. "But I'm not buying any food," Ducky warned them.

"No of course not," Abby said smiling.

"Yeah, we wouldn't be very good hosts if we expect you to buy the meet Ducky," Tony said. "We expect you to cook it… Ow," Tony rubbed his arm where Abby's precision punching hit. "Alright. I guess I can cook the meal," Tony corrected himself.


	5. Post Immortals

_**Two Peas In A Pod**_

_**Chapter 5: It All Started With Pong.  
**__**Post – Immortals  
**__**No spoilers  
**__**Summary: Tony and Abby discuss how advanced Roleplaying Games have become as well as some older games and Tony finally discovers Pong.**_

* * *

Tony sat down in front of the computer screen. He studied the monitor intently and occasionally looked around for Gibbs who always seemed to know when he put a game on his computer. There were only a couple of hours until knock off time and he was filling in the time.

_**DONK!**_

Kate looked up at Tony's desk. That was an odd noise to hear from the computer.

_**DINK!  
**__**DONK!**_

Tony smiled in intense concentration. "What you doing Tony?" Abby walked into the bullpen to ask about his Puerto Rico. "What's that?" She asked.

_**DINK!  
**__**DONK!**_

"Pong," Tony answered. "I found this online. Gibbs mentioned it and I wanted to check it out. It's strangely addictive," Tony told her.

"Looks like an Atari game," Abby smiled as she commented on the blockish black and white graphics. "Can you get two players?" She asked Tony.

"Sure," Tony said. "It's like tennis. You have bars going up and down and try and hit it so I miss," he explained the simple," he smiled as he restarted the tennis-like game. "And I thought Wizard Of Wor was bad," he laughed.

Kate was getting annoyed by the continuous **Dink! Donk **sound coming from the computer. "Can't you turn the sound down?" Kate asked.

"Then we can't be sure if we hit the ball right," Abby joked.

"Man, Gibbs was right about computer games coming along way since Pong," Tony said. "Damn it! I hit that!" Tony complained as Abby's score went up.

"Hey, you remember the first Dungeons and Dragons game?" Abby asked. "The ones where you move around in the first person and movie little two dimensional figures around on a battlefield," she said.

"My friend in college use to play Champions of Krynn on his C64 before he went PC," Tony said. "It looked good in it's day. Nice little adventure. But never played it myself," he explained.

"You never played Champions Of Krynn or Death Knights Of Krynn? Oh Tony. You don't know what you missed," she said.

"What about Final Fantasy?" Tony asked. "Now that's a series that grew," he said. "Who would've thought that that little two dimensional game would grow into the icon it is today. I think it's up to ten now," He said.

Abby rolled her eyes. She was into Final Fantasy until these online roleplaying games came into fashion. "They were addictive," Abby said. "I still like number seven and eight though… Got to love SEED and SOLDIER," she said.

"You're only saying that because I bet you think Sephiroth and Squall are cute," Tony said.

"Oh, if I went on those lines of thinking… I'd say number ten because Auron is so damn sexy," Abby told him. "What about you Tony?" She asked.

"No," Tony responded. "I don't think Auron is sexy at all," he said. Abby slapped him on the arm. "Alright… Hard choice, but I'd have to say Lulu. She is so feisty and hot to… Kate?" Tony asked. "Who do you like in the Final Fantasy series? Where are you going Kate?" He asked.

Kate was leaving the bullpen. "I think I'm going to go and jump off the roof. I think I'd enjoy that more than listening to you two talk about games." Kate answered as she left.

"Do you think they'll ever end the Final Fantasy series?" Abby asked.

"I doubt it. They just always seem to improve. Take number ten for example. Great graphics and they even talk now. Who would've thought that along time ago," Tony laughed.

He did wonder how far they could go. "Things sure improved from the old Atari system," Abby commented.

"You know… I never had an Atari," Tony said sadly. "I never had my own Commodore either," he hated that fact. Just about everyone he knew in college talked about old C64 games but he never could join in.

"Really?" Abby questioned. "You don't know what you were missing Tony. They were real good games back then. Games like Commando… Ghostbusters," Abby rattled off a couple of names that he should have liked.

"Ghostbusters was a game?" Tony asked. Too bad he missed that.

"Oh, Tony," Abby said. "You drive a car around a town and then go to houses and try and bust ghosts by using the beams and open the trap. Then if you get a good score by the end, Marshmallow Man comes to town and you have to try and sneak two guys around him and get them in to destroy the baddy," Abby was energetic.

"Sounds simple," Tony said. "Too simple," he said.

"Oh getting around Marshmallow Man is not easy," she said. "Then after that, you start all over again," she said.

"What's the point of it?" Tony asked.

"To build up your bank account," Abby answered with a smile. "Of course they have nothing on these games these days. You should get on Ultima Online so we can go adventuring together sometimes.

Tony raised his eyebrows. "I'll sound like a nerd," he said.

"Oh thanks Tony," Abby replied.

"For what?" Tony dared to ask.

"You basically called me a nerd," Abby said.

"Did not," Tony said.

"Did to," Abby replied.

"No I didn't," Tony said. "I just said I'll sound like a nerd if I play that," he said.

"You implied that people who play online RPGs are nerds with that comment," Abby said as she punched him in the arm.

"I didn't," Tony punched her back.

"Did," Abby punched him again.

"Didn't," Tony punched her in the arm again.

"Ouch, that hurt," Abby hit him.

"Hey!" Tony yelped. "I didn't hit you that hard," he complained as he hit her again.

"You did," Abby said as she punched him again.

"Didn't," Tony punched her back.

They were so intent on their countering of the other that they didn't see Gibbs enter the bullpen and was watching them continuously hit each other. He wasn't sure what was going on but knew he had to put a stop to this behavior before one of them got hurt.

"Did!" Abby retorted.

"Didn't!" Tony shouted.

"Hey!" Gibbs got their attention. "You want to explain to me why you're beating each other up?" He asked them.

"Sorry Boss," Tony said.

"What started this?" Gibbs sounded impatient.

"Well you see… It all started with pong," Tony said and Abby snickered.

"On second thoughts, I don't want to know," Gibbs said gruffly as he turned his back.

**DONK! DINK! **"What was that?!" Gibbs snapped.

"It was him," Abby pointed to Tony.

"Was not," Tony said.

"Was," Abby answered back.

"Wasn't," Tony defended himself.

"Was," Abby huffed.

"That's it!" Gibbs sighed loudly. "DiNozzo! Get some work done… Abby go to the lab. I don't know why I feel the need to separate you two," Gibbs said to them. "Go," he ordered.

"Yes Boss," Tony said.

"Ok, Boss-man," Abby left the bullpen.


	6. Post Curse

_**Two Peas In A Pod:**_

_**SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS  
**__**Post – Curse  
**__**Spoilers – Down Periscope  
**__**Summary – Tony watches movies at Abby's place which inadvertently leads to an unexpected twist in their relationship.**_

It had been along time since Tony had to pull such a long shift and he felt really tired. Sleeping in the bullpen didn't alleviate the tiredness he felt. But tonight was movie night with Abby and Tony didn't want to disappoint her. It was obvious that she enjoyed watching the movies with him, probably enjoying the company more than the actual movie.

"Oh, Tony," Abby greeted with her usual excitement and the hug. "You really should be home and in bed by the looks of you," She admonished him lightly after noticing the dark circles under his eyes. At times, she hated how he pushed himself so much.

"Don't you want to see a movie?" Tony asked. "I brought around a classic movie," he said as he hid the movie behind his back.

"Last time you said that… You brought around Flesh and Blood," Abby remembered it not so fondly. She slept in a coffin, she had injuries as art on her lab's wall but that movie really sickened her.

"It's Down Periscope," Tony walked into her place and stood near the table. "Stars Kelsey Grammer from Cheers and Frasier. Also it stars Lauren Holly as the only female on a submarine with a mismatched crew," Tony explained without giving too much away.

"Lauren Holly… That name sounds so familiar," Abby commented as she brought out the popcorn.

"Really," Tony stifled a yawn as he put the DVD into the player. "Hey, you should really like this," he sat on the couch and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "Thanks," Tony said.

He liked to watch Abby laugh. She laughed often and it made him smile and he could almost forget about every problem in the world. They seemed to laugh at every part that was even slightly funny. Especially the guy trying to imitate whale calls to convince the other sub that their little diesel powered submarine was two whales. To them acting like pirates and throwing Rob Sheider's character off the plank and into a small fishing boat.

Even with the laughing and the volume of the movie, Tony easily drifted off to sleep. If Abby hadn't noticed the dark rings around his eyes as well as how long he'd been working the case of the missing money she would've been quite annoyed. After the movie had finished she brought in a blanket and placed it over Tony. He only moaned and stirred a bit but didn't wake. She smiled at him before turning off the lights and leaving his pajamas near the couch.

* * *

Abby was woken up by somebody crying out. At first she was disorientated from being dragged out of a deep sleep. It was hard to realize what was going on at first. She got hold of her bearings and walked into the second bedroom where the noise was coming from.

"I can't find her!" Tony's shouting made her jump. "She was right there," Abby could see that he was thrashing about trapped within a nightmare. Then there was sudden silence. "Come back Mother!" The screaming started again. "Bring her back! Come on. Mother!"

Tony sat up in bed breathing heavily. It took awhile to get the breathing under control. He acted as if he didn't see Abby standing in the room. "Tony," she said to get his attention. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"I am fine," Tony answered as he walked out of the room just to keep moving.

Abby hadn't seen Tony act like this when sleeping before. But knew that when he was really tired, Tony would avoid sleeping anywhere where there's people. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked as Tony walked into the living room.

"There's nothing to talk about?" Tony said. He and Abby talked a lot about many different things. But talking about a nightmare was just plain wrong. It just wasn't done. "I just need to get some water," he went to the tap. Tony wanted something stronger but knew that Abby wouldn't allow that right now.

"Hang on a tick Tony," she poured some milk into a pot and turned the stove on for awhile.

"Whatcha doing?" Tony asked.

"Making some warm milk," Abby answered as she waited for the milk to become warm enough. "So we can have some," she explained to him.

"Warm milk?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

"If you say that you never had warm milk after a nightmare I'm going to have to really seriously think about kicking your ass," Abby joked.

Tony lowered his eyes. Ever since moving to NCIS, Abby had opened his eyes to a wide range of things that he never dreamed of. Warm milk after a nightmare was one of those things. Like always, he reluctantly played along. They sat down and enjoyed a glass of warm milk. "Thanks for that," Tony commented. "I feel a bit relaxed now," he said. That was the truth… He felt much more relaxed.

"I knew it would work," Abby said as she followed Tony into the bedroom again. "Now get some sleep because it looks like you need it," she told him while watching him slide beneath the covers. "Goodnight," Abby said.

Tony began tossing a bit trying to get comfortable. "Guess it's the strange bed," he said.

"You've slept here before Tony," she said.

"Changed the mattress?" Tony asked.

"Quit stalling," Abby answered. "And no, it is the same bed," she added.

"Pillows?" Tony asked.

"Everything's the same Tony," she answered. "Now goodnight," she told him and went to leave.

"I really liked the movie… Did you?" Tony commented. "Kelsey Grammar can be really funny," he commented.

"Go to sleep Tony," she tried to order.

"I don't think I'm tired," Tony replied. He knew that his nightmare had woken up Abby and was quite embarrassed about it and was thankful that she wasn't commenting on it. But Tony didn't want to sleep there again that night. The same nightmare always returned on night's like this.

Abby saw it in Tony's eyes. He was ashamed of his nightmare. She knew he'd talk if he wanted to. "Move over," she told him as she climbed into the opposite side of the bed.

"What?!" Tony exclaimed. Usually he wouldn't mind sleeping with a woman but this was Abby. She was the Boss's pet and adopted daughter… Figuratively speaking. "I don't think this is a good idea. There's only one reason I share a bed with a woman," he commented.

"Shut up and sleep Tony," Abby said.

"I told you I'm not tired," Tony responded.

Abby slung her arm around his waist and pressed her nose into his shoulder. "It's alright Tony," she soothed him. "I'm here for you," she massaged his chest.

Tony laughed. This was so uncomfortable at first. But then that feeling was replaced with comfort. "This is ridiculous," Tony said sleepily.

"Go to sleep," she said in a quiet tone and kissed his cheek.

Tony was about to say something… He was already drifting off to sleep and all that escaped his lips was a moan. Abby smiled as she snuggled in deeper. She closed her eyes and listened to the even breaths he took. Now relaxed in her grasp.

The nightmare threatened to invade his peaceful slumber again. Instead of being dragged into the nightmarish world of his past he saw the forensic Scientist standing next to him. He took her hand and found himself laughing and joking while watching his favorite movies on his favorite couch with his favorite girl.


	7. Post High Seas

_**Two Peas In A Pod 7  
**__**TITLE: Who's The Better Agent?  
**__**Post – High Seas  
**__**Spoilers – High Seas**_

Tony followed Gibbs into the bullpen and dropped his travel bag by his desk before returning to the centre. "I can say that was fun," Tony said with a smile. Kate and Gibbs turned around to face him.

"Why's that Tony?" Kate asked. She was still getting use to Tony's ways.

"That we've been on the USS Enterprise," Tony said. "You know… Stan's the first NCIS agent to boldly go where no agent has gone before. To search out new galaxies… To find -," the quotation of Star Trek was abruptly ended with a slap to the back of the head.

"Shut up, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "I swear that if I hear one more Star Trek crack like that, I'm going to slap you to where no man has gone before," he warned. "Now both of you get out of here before I have you doing paperwork all night," and that wasn't an idle threat.

It had been a long trip back from the Enterprise and they were getting testy to each other as often happened on longer travelling time. Abby knew that her team was back and wanted to get all the information of the things that didn't pertain to the case. One thing in particular, she wanted to know how the former team member was going.

"Hey Abs," Gibbs greeted.

"How's Stan doing?" Abby bounced around a little. "Has he changed much?"

There were two things that Gibbs vividly remembered two things about Stan this time around, his ability to anticipate and the susceptibility to anxiety attacks. "Hasn't changed at all Abs… He sends his greetings by the way," Gibbs told the forensic scientist.

"Oh cool," Abby replied excitedly. "Did he get a kick out of the cricket ball?" she asked, not changing her tone.

"You were right Abs... He got a kick out of it alright," Gibbs answered as he left the bullpen. "He's going really good," he said heading to the elevator.

"It's easy to see why he and Gibbs worked together for such a long time. They work so well together," Kate said before leaving Tony hovering around his desk with Abby watching.

"Well?" Abby asked Tony who seemed to be roughly packing gear into his bag.

"Nothing," Tony answered quickly as he turned to leave.

Abby grabbed him by the arm to stop him from moving. "Don't 'nothing' me Tony," she said harshly. Almost to adopt the tone that Gibbs used to get Tony's attention. He stopped before turning around. "There's something bothering you for sure," they held eye contact for awhile.

"It's nothing really," Tony's gaze lowered before returning to Abby's unmoved eyes. "It's just, ah forget it. It really is nothing," he stumbled over his own words. She continued the stare until he couldn't hide anything any longer. "It's that Stanley guy," unfortunately it seemed that Gibbs acted more pleased with Stan's work than with his. He showed him a lot of praise on the Enterprise. "I think Gibbs prefers working with him rather than me," Tony explained.

"You can't compare yourself to Stan," Abby said. "You two are so different," she patted him on the shoulder.

"It's just everyone was so excited that we were working with Stan," Tony talked with excessive hand movements. "Aw, Hell, he was probably a better field agent. Unlike him, I can't seem to ever anticipate Gibbs," he shrugged his shoulders.

"Comparing you and Stan would be like comparing apples and oranges it's just so different," Abby told him. "It's impossible to say which one of you two are better. Because your styles are so different. As for you and Gibbs, I know Gibbs wouldn't trade you two for anything... And as for being excited to hear from him, well we haven't seen him in like ages," she explained.

Tony mulled over the words a bit. "It's just... Perhaps if I try and act more like Stan instead of waiting around for orders like an idiot," he added. That did sound good to him and perhaps even everyone would be happier with his work.

Abby stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Tony was always out to try and please everybody. He always needed that acceptance though would never come out and say it. From some of the things Tony had told her, Abby had gathered that his father had never given Tony credit just for being him. Therefore, Tony was unsure of himself and often compared himself to others.

"Listen... Stan is Stan and you're you. You're two different people," Abby made sure that he was listening and hearing what she was saying. "Don't forget, we like you and we like Stan. And Gibbs hired YOU and put YOU in as senior field agent," she explained. Of course it was a bit of a rough start at the beginning before the two agents got a feel for working together. "Don't forget that," she said.

Tony touched the back of his head. "I know but also I noticed I'm the only one around that gets a slap on the back of the head," he said.

"That's true," Abby and Tony walked to the elevator. "But he only does it to keep you focused. If he didn't want you as his right hand guy, he wouldn't be trying to bring out the best in you?" She asked.

"Hm," Tony responded thoughtfully. "Perhaps you're right," he added.

"I'm Abby... I'm always right," Abby responded as the elevator doors closed.


	8. Post Sub Rosa

**2 Peas In A Pod 8  
****First times  
****Post Sub Rosa  
****A/N: After encountering a very green agent at a crime scene… Abby and Tony decide to discuss first times.**

* * *

Tony slid another beer across the table to Abby before opening his own. "Couldn't believe the rookie from Norfolk we ran into," Tony said.

"Timmy maybe a little green but he's kinda cute," Abby responded.

"Timmy?" Tony cocked an eyebrow.

Abby laughed at the reaction. "Don't tell me you're jealous," she said.

"Jealous of McGee from MIT? I don't think so," Tony smiled as he took another drink. "So you two got along then?"

"Yeah, he's cute a little naïve but very sweet in that innocent kinda way," Abby answered. "We'll be seeing him again. Well I would be at least," she winked at Tony.

"Oh, he showed you his tat did he? If he breaks your heart I'll kick his ass," Tony noticed Abby's jaw dropped. "Trust me I can," he said.

"So do you remember your first tattoo?" Abby asked Tony.

"I don't remember actually getting it," Tony said sheepishly. "Two days after a big frat house party I woke up with a tattoo on my inner thigh," Tony relayed the story. "But I actually have no recollection of getting it," he added. "How about your first tattoo?"

"Wait what's it of and where is it?" Abby asked.

"It's zero zero seven," Tony blushed just at thinking whereabouts the tattoo was and therefore didn't want to mention where. "As for where… I'll leave that up to your imagination," Tony said. "Now yours," he prodded.

"Actually it was the flower on the upper arm. I don't know why I did it. I was just walking past a parlor and thought it looked pretty cool," Tony laughed. It did sound very much like Abby to get one on a whim. "And it all started with that," Abby laughed back. "You made fun of Timmy for being green… What was your first crime scene?" She asked.

Tony got another beer before answering. "My first one… Oh yeah that's right it was a dog attack actually. Bit a couple of fingers off from this guy. God, I almost barfed when we were on our hands and knees trying to find this guy's fingers. So I guess I was a little green then," Abby snickered at the small joke.

"Hey ok… I know you haven't been to a crime scene. So ok… I see where this conversation is going," Tony smiled. "First sexual encounter," he simply said. That was something he was curious to know about. But he expected to be given the red signal for him to not get an answer.

"Actually, it was at my Auntie's wedding," Abby answered after taking a drink.

"Best man?" Tony asked.

"Parking valet. Did it in the bushes over the road from the church," Abby smiled at his reaction.

"You little devil you," Tony joked.

"Yours?" Abby asked. Tony's expression turned serious for a second. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to," Abby said.

"Nah, it's alright," Tony answered eventually. "It wasn't in anywhere exciting. It was with the maid. Didn't see anything wrong with it at the time. I think you'd say that she broke me in," Tony smiled.

"Was it good?" Abby asked.

"It was great," Tony answered while keeping his grin. "First date?" Tony asked her.

"This reminds me of twenty questions…" Abby said.

"Could play that if you like," Tony responded. It seemed that that was where this was going. "Seriously… What was your first real date?" Tony asked again.

"With my lab partner. We went to every school dance together. We had some real chemistry," Abby snorted.

Tony laughed again. "Chemistry… Lab partner, very funny. Mine was with my High School teacher. Long story. It all started with detention but we ended up going to the county fair afterwards. After a few times making out at the movies, she was eventually transferred to another state," he said with a tinge of sadness and a bit of regret.

"Ooh, sounds dangerous and forbidden," Abby kept the mood light. "Sounds exciting. Alright then… First run in with the law," she said. "And don't tell me you're squeaky clean Tony. I know you're not," she added.

Tony stood up in an attempt to make a quick getaway but almost stumbled backwards over the chair behind him. "Must have had more than I thought," Tony responded.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," Abby told him. "You can red flag it," she said.

"Nah, it's alright," Tony waved his hand. "I took my father's car up the street and back. Someone called the cops and when I was back they came around and told my father about it," he explained. "My father belittled me in front of the cops harshly and tried to convince them to throw me in jail overnight to teach me a damn lesson. Even threatened to slap on the handcuffs himself and drag me down to the jail himself," Tony remembered it easily. Fortunately though, the cops weren't having anything to do with it. "How about your first run in Abs?" Tony quickly got the attention away from him.

"Mine was just a speeding ticket," Abby said. "I was in a rush to get my assignment in and planted the accelerator foot down. Unfortunately there was a cop on the road at the time," she said.

"What a bummer," Tony sat back down. "I wonder how drunk we'd have to get Kate to find out all her little secrets," he couldn't help but smile at the thought.

"We can try and find out," Abby broadened her grin at that thought. "We could start trying. Start inviting her to the bar. Surely, one day she'd say yes," Abby laughed.

"Hm," Tony replied. "I can introduce her to Saki Bombing," he waggled his eyebrows.

"Might be too much," Abby replied. "How about just different shots and cheep beers. Might work better," she said.

"Our mission if we choose to accept it is to get Agent Todd so plastered so we could learn all her dark secrets," Tony mimicked the tape recorded voice of the old Mission Impossible television show.


	9. Post Minimum Security

Two Peas In A Pod 9

Title: Keeping Up With The Johnses  
Post – Minimum Security  
No spoilers  
A/N: Tony and Abby set out to convince Gibbs to buy NCIS a private jet.

* * *

Gibbs looked up from his desk when his senior field agent placed the finished folder on his desk. Usually it was a fight to get Tony to finish the paperwork this quickly and frankly the thought of Tony finishing early was a little frightening. "Got somewhere to be DiNozzo?" He asked when he noticed Tony shifting his feet.

"I just have to see Abby," Tony said.

"Ok," Gibbs didn't want to ask about the details. "But I want you to come back here as soon as possible," he ordered sternly.

"Got it Boss," Tony said as he began racing to the elevator.

Gibbs looked at Kate and she shook her head. Naturally he was curious but was certain that he'd soon figure out what the fuss was about. He looked over the report and began looking at Kate's afterwards. They were definitely satisfactory. He put them both down just in time to see Tony and Abby enter the bullpen. Abby placed a couple of large placards on a stand.

"What is this?" Gibbs sat back in his chair. This was beginning to feel very, very scary. He attempted to brace himself for what could be coming next. "A presentation?" He asked.

"Correct-a-mongo boss-man," Abby sounded excited. "Now please hear us out before saying anything," she added.

"Okay," Gibbs was very reluctant to agree with it. Kate took a seat near Gibbs' desk out of curiosity.

"Good," Tony said as he turned his serious face on. He extended the pointer. "I'm sure as you've recently become aware that NCIS is so far behind the times that we're currently the only major investigative agency that does not have a private jet," Tony said. That was what this was all about.

"Yes, Boss-man," Abby jumped in when she saw Gibbs roll his eyes. "We've actually been shopping around and came up with the perfect jet," she said.

"Abs and DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he rubbed his forehead. He could feel a migraine coming on.

"Oh Boss-man you said you'd hear us out," Abby whined. Gibbs sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"Now, not only will an NCIS private jet get us to crime scene areas without having to worry about organizing priority flights," Tony said. "Also for appearances sake a private jet would do wonders for NCIS's PR," he said seriously.

"That's right Boss-man," Abby rubbed her hands together as it was all coming together. "And imagine at the airport when the jet lands at an airport with NCIS written on the side there'd be no more embarrassing moments of being the most obscure agency out there since nobody outside the navy has ever heard of… Do you know how annoying it is boss-man? I mean whenever I mention that I work for NCIS, people have never heard of it," Abby said.

"Having hardly anybody knowing about NCIS does have it's advantages. With the certain amount of obscurity we're able to do our jobs without too much harassment," Gibbs told them.

"Might be right about that Boss," Tony commented. The tone had a 'but' implied.

"Ok, what have you got?" Gibbs asked, pointing towards the placards that Abby had set up.

"This should be good," Kate laughed. She couldn't believe that Abby and Tony had put together a presentation. She also wondered when on earth did they have the time to do this?

"I'm glad you asked Boss. Abs, would you do the honors?" Tony asked and Abby removed the cover to reveal a picture of a great looking, small private jet. "This is just the outside. With the NCIS clearly written on the plane with none other than navy blue letters with the much small _Naval Criminal Investigation Service_ words written beneath it," Tony's voice reached that excited volume.

"Notice the beautiful lettering," Abby added. "It really fits in with aerodynamic design of the jet," she told them.

"I like the slight slant," Kate commented.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. It was obvious that Kate was warming up to the idea. He waited so he could hear them out as he said he would.

"But that's not all… There's way more," Tony exclaimed and kept up his excited tone.

"That's just the outside," Abby lifted the picture of the plane to show sketches of inside the plane. It showed different compartments.

"Now right here we have the make-up area so Kate can look her best before reaching the destination," Tony smiled. "See, just here," he smiled.

"Shut up," Kate retorted.

Abby laughed. "Alright. Right here, we have the fridge and a full bar so that everybody can have a refreshment if need be. It'd save going to the shop or buying those cheap bad tasting drinks on commercial flights because you know that most of them can be stale right?" Abby explained as Tony used the pointer to highlight it. "We can stock it up with only the amount that is needed," she concluded.

"But that's not all! We have saved the best for last!" Tony almost shouted. "You Boss, made a comment about missing the canvas floor and near the crates or something like that," Tony smiled as Abby lifted the sketches to reveal another. "Right near the rear of the plane is a part with canvas flooring and crates as to make you feel right at home," he said loudly again.

"Well?" Tony and Abby said together once Tony closed the pointer.

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"You're going to get us that plane Boss-man?" Abby asked. "We're not just asking on behalf for us it's for the whole of NCIS. Imagine NCIS with its own jet," she said.

"I don't make those decisions," Gibbs said. He wouldn't say yes to it even if it was his decision to make.

"We know that Boss," Tony said. "But you can put our case to the Director," he said.

"Give it up Tony," Kate said. "You know there's no way that the Director Morrow would ever authorize that," she told them with certainty.

"We don't know if we don't try Katie," Tony laughed. "Where are you going Boss?" Tony asked as Gibbs left the bullpen.

"I'm going to put your case to the Director," Gibbs said with a straight face. Tony just looked shocked and Gibbs signed something to Abby who replied with hand gestures of her own.

Tony looked on suspiciously. One of these days, he'd have to learn the sign language and trip them up. "You know, Donald Trump and John Travolta speak very highly of their private jets," he said.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Oh brother," she sighed. "You have to keep up with the Johnses don't you?" she asked.

"I think you mean Joneses Katie. I think she means Joneses Abby," Tony turned to Abby.

"Actually, I meant the Johnses as in John Travolta… Seriously, if John Travolta had a private yacht would you have to get one to?" Kate asked.

Tony's eyes widened. "No way!" He exclaimed.

"Good," Kate was about to say something to Abby.

"John Travolta has a yacht?" Tony started running towards the elevator.

"Where are you going Tony?" Abby asked.

"I'm going to get a yacht catalogue," Tony answered.

Kate looked shocked. "What did Gibbs say to you?" She asked Abby.

"Hang up Tony," Abby called back. "He didn't say anything to me," she told Kate.

"When he signed to you I mean," Kate said.

"Oh that," Abby responded with a laugh. "He _said, _'That's not what he's doing but did you see the look on DiNozzo's face?'" They both laughed. "But right now we're going to find a yacht," Abby said and went to catch up with Tony who was waiting near the elevator.

"You're kidding right?" Kate asked. "Tell me you're kidding," but she was given no answer in return. She rubbed her eyes in frustration.

"Did you see the look on her face?" Tony asked Abby as she stepped into the elevator. Abby laughed fully as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

**A/N 2: Unfortunately after looking ahead a couple of episodes I can't figure out tags for every episode, so next chapter probably will skip a few episodes but they will still be in order. If you wish to request an episode tag, send a PM or have it in a review and I'll see. If not, I'd just go where I can.**


	10. Post Marine Down

_**Two Peas In A Pod 10  
**__**TITLE: Target Practice & From Beyond  
**__**Post – Marine Down  
**__**Minor Spoilers – Marine Down**_

_**A/N: Tony takes Abby to the pistol range for target practice.**_

_**

* * *

**_

Abby held the pistol at arm's length and fired at the target. Tony reached out and placed his hand on her forearm. "You're still doing it wrong. This isn't like shooting into a barrel," Tony told her.

"Oh really," Abby replied.

"Yes, really," Tony said. "Just pretend it's an extension of your arm. Loosely close your hands around the handle and trigger and get a feel for your weapon. Feel the coldness just feel…"

"Ooh, this sounds dirty," Abby laughed as she turned to face Tony.

"It can be," Tony smiled back. "Now concentrate because the last thing you want is for it to go off early," he said.

"Yeah, I definitely don't want anything going off too early in my hands," Abby responded and Tony lowered his head.

"That's funny. But you have to take this seriously," Tony said as he stood behind her.

"Oh, I am," Abby replied while smiling. She felt something pressing against her back. "I really hope that's your weapon Tony," she laughed. "Look if it's not your weapon, I'll have to consider extending the personal barrier you know. Because…" Abby began rambling until she heard the metallic CLUNK as he placed his weapon on the table in the next booth.

"Sorry, I forgot I had it out," Tony said. "So, why don't you try it now? Remember to keep relaxed," he went back to his booth and donned the hearing protectors and made sure the weapon was loaded before taking aim.

Several shots rung out until the weapons clicked signaling that the magazines were empty. Tony wrapped the hearing protectors around his neck and waited for Abby to do the same. "How'd you think you went Tony?" Abby asked.

"I think I went fine," Tony answered, "Yourself?" He asked her.

"Good I think."

They approached their targets and studied each of them carefully. "You did ok there Abs, not bad at all," Tony commented as he began comparing it to his own target. He grimaced as he totaled up the score and was shocked to find that she had scored nine points higher.

"Not bad? Not bad?" Abby responded. "Looks like I did better than you," she showed the holes and noted that a couple of Tony's bullets strayed to the right and missed the outline. That was something that he seemed to have problems with.

"You have a good instructor Abs… Me," Tony responded. He wasn't going to let it go without a fight.

"Alright… We should have another round then," Abby threw open the challenge. "Winner takes all and the loser buys dinner and drinks," she said.

"You got it," Tony smiled as they walked back to their respective booths and prepared to begin firing once again. "Hey Abs," he got Abby's attention. She looked around the wall that separated their booths. "If you were dead," Tony began to say.

"Ooh so morbid Tony," Abby laughed. "I like it already," she said.

"Seriously… If you were dead and you got one phone call. You were able to call anyone up in the world… Who would you call?" Tony asked her.

The question shocked Abby but it made her think. If she got one phone call from beyond the grave who would she call? She knew the question had come up because of the case they'd been working on. A wife got a call from her dead husband that was just buried. "That's a really tough one," Abby answered after some serious thought. "Only just one phone call… Hmm, I'll call Gibbs and ask him to put me on speaker phone so I'll get to talk to everyone," she said.

"What if it doesn't work that way? What if the rule is you can only talk to one person?" Tony asked.

"Then it's almost impossible to say, Tony. I want to talk with everybody," Abby laughed. "You know how I love to talk," Abby joked.

"Sure do Abs," Tony laughed in return. "So? Who would be the one person you'd call?" He asked to keep the conversation on track.

"I think I'll call Gibbs," Abby said. "I know he'll miss me and want to hear from me… Who would you call, Tony?" She asked. It was impossible to guess who Tony would call.

"Tough choice as you said," Tony entered deep thought. "Honestly, I don't know who I'd call," he tried to think deeply. There were so few people who'd answer the call and to pick one person out of those few people would be unfair on the others. _Hell, I should've just shut up._ "Come to think of it Abs. The person I'd want to call most from beyond the grave is you," he said seriously. "You're more than a friend… You know that don't you?" Tony asked.

"Gee, Tony. If I knew it was going to get sentimental, I'd have brought my tissues with me," Abby said with a lighthearted smile and she was thankful that Tony returned it with one of his own.

"Well don't get all mushy on me," Tony was about to put on the hearing protectors. "So, long princess," he added and laughed.

Abby laughed as she put her hearing protectors on and they began firing at the target. After their magazines had been emptied they approached their targets. Tony looked at his and shook his head. Instead of the bullets straying to the right, they were now to the left.

"Ooh, looks like somebody's overcompensating," Abby leaned over and compared her target to his. "I heard that men often overcompensate," she said.

"Really funny," Tony laughed. "Looks like dinner's on me," he said in a mock defeated tone. "Well done."

"Like shooting fish in a barrel," Abby joked about herself running ballistics.

Tony looked around and back at the targets. "You know, returning the marine to his family and seeing their faces. They were so happy. What I guess I'm saying is that its case endings like this that makes being an NCIS agent worth it," they began walking back. "Man, I love this job!" He began laughing.


	11. Post Left For Dead

_**Two Peas In A Pod 11  
**__**Title: Buried  
**__**Post – Left For Dead  
**__**Spoilers – Left For Dead, Evil Dead, Army Of Darkness, Carrie, Poltergeist**_

* * *

Tony put the bag of clothes he had in the spare bedroom at Abby's place. Even though Gibbs had told him that his door was always unlocked he knew that tonight he'd be comforting Kate. Kate had made a mistake… Gibbs was right that Tony had made a huge mistake and there was one person who helped him through it and that was Gibbs. So he'll leave it for a day or two.

"Pizza tonight?" Abby asked as she walked around with the phone in hand.

"Your place your choice," Tony replied.

"Cool," Abby said as she began dialing the number for the pizza place. "I'll offer you a beer but I haven't restocked the fridge since our last drinking session," she explained to him.

"My fridge in my apartment is just another pantry right now. I didn't think to bring my warm beers," Tony sighed as he sat down. It was annoying that he had to empty out his refrigerator since everything was going to go off.

"Here, have a Red Bull," Abby said as she handed him one.

"I don't know Abs," Tony smiled. "Remember the last can of Red Bull I had?" He asked. He ended up figuratively bouncing off the walls.

"I sure do," Abby laughed. "So…" she said. It was actually tough to find something to talk about. "What are you thinking about?" Abby started drinking from her can. She noticed the thoughtful look on his face.

Tony studied the top of the can before taking a mouthful of the bad tasting Red Bull. "Not really thinking of anything Abs," he lied. There was only one thing going through his mind at the moment, someone getting buried alive. "Nothing really," he said.

"Come on Tony… What you thinking?" Abby prodded for the truthful answer. "It's about the case right?" She asked.

"Yeah… I was thinking about how bad being buried alive must be," Tony said as he drunk some more.

"Somebody's overly morbid today," Abby smiled.

"This coming from a girl who's Goth, hangs up photos of fatal injuries in her workplace?" Tony made the lighthearted comment.

"Point taken, Tony," Abby answered. "So what have you got in that little mind of yours?" She asked him.

Tony thought hard for a moment. "It has to be one of the worst ways to die," he said, somewhat coldly. "Ah, I don't know…" It all sounded stupid to be thinking of it. He was young, healthy. And young healthy people shouldn't be thinking about dying.

"I think it might be but I think drowning would be a terrible way to go," Abby chimed in with her thoughts.

"I always hated the thought of dying from an incurable disease. Can you imagine knowing that death is coming closer and all you can do is get progressively worse until the end," Tony's body involuntarily shuddered at the thought. "How would you hate to go Abs?" He asked.

"As I say… Drowning or getting buried alive," Abby responded. "The thought of fighting for air but instead find yourself swallowing more of the stuff that will kill you… It's like, eww, that's bad," she said. "But the thing I'd really hate is to die and not know how I died," she added.

"We can easily fix that… How about when you die I'll right your Cause Of Death on your tombstone. 'Here lies Abigail Scuito, died of such-and-such… Thank God it wasn't by drowning," Tony laughed.

Abby laughed in response. "Put Abigail on my tombstone and I'll have to come back and haunt you all," she said in between laughs.

"Alright I won't, believe me I won't," Tony held his arms up in mock defense. "It's funny that you should mention being buried alive. You know apparently people are very afraid of that," Tony was interrupted by the knock on the door. "I'll get it," Tony virtually leapt to his feet. "I think I'll handle the tab since you're letting me stay here," he paid the pizza delivery guy and brought it in the living room.

"Oh, cool. Yum," Abby commented as she sat on the couch. "Why do you think it's funny that I should mention being buried alive?" She asked him.

"What I mean is people are so afraid of being buried alive or even afraid of people not staying buried," Tony said.

"Huh?" Abby asked as she cocked her head to one side.

"Well take a look at the movies that had people coming up from the grave. Evil Dead… Ash tries to bury his deadite girlfriend and in Army Of Darkness he tried to bury the evil version of himself but they both got out and tried to kill him and then Evil Ash digs up a whole skeletal army," Tony replied. "Then there's Carrie where in the end she's kneeling in front of her mother's grave when her mother's hand broke through the ground and began choking her," Tony remembered that movie fondly. "And then the classic Poltergeist when the coffins started penetrating the ground until the family escaped with their lives… Only just," he concluded.

"Wow, sounds like you should cut down on the Red Bull, Tony," Abby laughed.

"Hey, that's only from a couple of movies," Tony responded and started thinking again. "Not sure what it is but I guess people are very afraid of things just not staying buried. That everything will come to the surface eventually," he said.

"You have something like that Tony?" Abby asked. Maybe this conversation was brought up for a reason. Tony was never one to just blurt anything out.

"No it's just an interesting movie concept," Tony answered. Attempting to assure her that there was nothing deeper going on. He wasn't sure that she believed him or not but was relieved that she didn't press him. "Oh perhaps one thing maybe… Do you think people will still like you if all your corpses surfaced," Tony asked seriously.

"Are you worried about it?" Abby asked in return.

"No, not really," Tony answered. Of course he was worried about it. But that didn't need to be vocalized to anyone. He told himself that maybe it'd be best to keep his mouth firmly shut in future. "You want to watch a movie?" Tony asked looking cheerful once again.


	12. Post Eye Spy

_**POST – Eye Spy**_

_**TITLE: What Do you do In Public?**_

_**No Spoilers**_

_**A/N: Abby, Tony and Kate have a few drinks discuss things they've done in public that they hope to God surveillance cameras didn't pick up.**_

* * *

"Hey Tony," Abby screeched excitedly as she greeted Tony sitting in his usual dark corner of the bar. He hugged her back energetically.

"You didn't tell me he was going to be here," Kate said with only a hint of annoyance.

"You didn't tell me she was going to be here," Tony responded not unkindly.

"Remember our mission?" Abby whispered into his ear very quietly. This caused Tony to smile. Yeah he remembered the mission they had set themselves.

"Welcome Katie," Tony showed her the seat. "Why don't you join us for a few drinks?" He asked.

"I'm already here," Kate answered. "So this is where you spend most of your time?" She asked. "Nice place," she added.

"It's pretty good," Tony said as he drunk some of his beer and waited for Abby to return. They didn't have to wait too long. "Hey your shout is it Abs?" Tony asked raising his bottle.

"Don't think so Tony… I'm wondering how many you've had already," Abby thought for a moment and placed a couple of drinks down in front of Kate and herself. "So, how long you been here, Tony?" Abby asked.

Tony checked his watch. "About half an hour I guess. Give or take," he sighed.

"No luck Prowling Tony," Kate observed with a snide comment.

"Not prowling tonight Katie," Tony said and watched Kate have a drink before looking in Abby's direction and she smiled back. "I'll be right back," Tony stood up. "I'm going to get another beer," he walked towards the bar.

"So?" Abby asked. "What you think of him outside of work?"

"He actually doesn't seem like that much of a pig," Kate laughed as she drunk some more. "He almost seems nice… Almost," she laughed.

"Oh come on Kate… Be nice to him please… For me?" Abby pleaded with her to be nice while they were out anyway.

"Alright," she responded.

Tony came back carrying a few beers. It was surprising that he wasn't dropping any. "There you go," Tony handed them around. As the drinking session deepened, Kate had failed to recognize that on more than a couple of occasions Abby and Tony had swapped their full beers with Kate's empty bottles. This was so that she was drinking more.

"If I didn't know any better… I swear we're all trying to get… someone drunk," Kate said as everyone laughed.

"Would we do that?" Abby asked and Tony snorted in response as he tried to hide the fact that, that was what they were doing. "Hey, look, baseball is on," Abby pointed to the large screen.

"Be right back," Tony said as he slightly swaggered towards the bar.

"You two seem to be able to hold your liquor well," Kate said. She couldn't understand how the other two seemed to be still well, normal or as normal as Tony and Abby can be anyway. Kate shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I must be out of practice," she gave the excuse for it.

"Hey, I'm back," Tony said as he placed shot glasses on the table. "You ever played a drinking game with baseball?" Tony asked. They shook their heads. "Well whenever a scuffle breaks out or an argument with the umpire you take a shot," Tony explained the simple rules as he poured the bit of bourbon into each glass. "Starts from now," he told them.

After awhile the drinking game was long forgotten. "Alright… I have a question," Abby piped up as best as she could. "You know how there are cameras and satellites around everywhere right?" She asked.

"No… Really?" Tony asked and saw Kate's mock attempt at a shocked expression and couldn't stop laughing at it.

"Yes," Abby joined in. "They can pick up anything. I never thought of it until today really," she tried to look thoughtful. "I remember I use to enjoy walking around in this cutie little black bikini piece. I think you'll like it Tony," Abby added as she reached over and slapped him on the arm. "What I use to do was go to a secluded part of the beach and go for a run," Abby told them.

"Doesn't sound too bad Abby," Kate replied eventually.

"I only wore the bikini TO the beach," She smiled cheekily. Tony almost choked on his drink.

"Damn, Abs," Tony said as the laughter at their table stopped. "Man, I thought that having sex in a movie theatre was bad," Tony explained something that he hoped hadn't somehow been caught on tape.

"What film?" Abby asked.

"Random Hearts," Tony couldn't believe how loose lipped he was feeling. "Honestly, Mindy and I was getting bored during that movie so we thought a sex scene would spice things up," Tony continued the story.

"Wow," Kate said. "You do realize the sex scene was supposed to be in the movie right?" She asked and Tony just shrugged and all their eyes were on her. "I don't know if my story is as good as you two," Kate said after thinking for awhile. "Hm, I really haven't done a lot to be too ashamed of except for the time I was having a midnight picnic and thought it'd be great to do a strip show when he entered the clearing… To my horror it was a patrolman checking out the area," Kate told them. "It took me ages to explain to him that I wasn't a nut job," she laughed.

"I wish I could've seen that," Tony replied and realized that he didn't mean for it to come out like that. He was sure as hell thinking that.

"Look you three," The owner approached the table with the three of them laughing. "I really think you should all hand over your keys. I think you're all too intoxicated to drive," The owner told them. Knowing that there was no use in arguing they each rummaged through their pockets and produced their keys. "Good, I can't serve you anymore alcohol you know that right?" He asked.

Tony looked down at his watch. His vision was somewhat fuzzy. In response he tapped the LED display. "My watch is refusing to tell me the time. But I think it's time we get going home anyway," Tony said as he almost mumbled. "Well I am anyway," he said.

"Good idea Tony," Abby said.

"Woah there Kate," Tony grabbed onto her elbow to stop her from sprawling backwards. "Maybe we should go to my place since it's closest," he noted. It was going to be a long walk that was for sure.

"Let's go," Abby said.

"Let's Roll," Kate said in a butch tone that almost sounded like Gibbs.

"On your six," Tony responded as they all laughed.

They walked on the footpath and soon were starting to feel extremely bored with just walking and chatting about nothing in particular. Fortunately, they got to Tony's apartment at about eleven at night. They did their best to be quiet but their quietness was short lived as Tony searched through his pockets.

"Oh no," Tony said.

"Don't tell me you didn't take your door key off the key ring before you gave it to the bartender," Kate rolled her eyes.

Tony held his finger up. "I won't tell you that then," he laughed.

"My place is closest to here," Abby piped up again. "We can get to my place," she suggested. She checked her pocket to make sure she had her house key there.

"Sounds good Abby," Kate responded. "We're not going to go in silence are we?" Kate asked as they were back on the footpath again. "What about a song?"

"What would you do… If I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me?" Tony sung.

"Probably," Abby answered the questions.

"Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song… And I'll try not and sing out of key," Tony threw his arms up after he stopped singing. "That's all I can remember from that tune," he said. "You got a song in mind Abs?" Tony asked.

Abby thought for a moment. "I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand…Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain," She sung. "He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook's. Going to get himself a bowl of beef chowmein," she sung.

"Awwwoooo," Tony imitated a dog howling.

"Werewolves of London. If you hear him howling around your door… You better not let him in. Little old lady got mutilated late last night," Abby sung. "Werewolves of London bit again," she said.

"Awwwooo," Tony and Kate sung out again.

"Werewolves of London," Abby sung before she was so rudely interrupted by the sound of a police siren pulling alongside them. "Hey officers," Abby greeted them nicely.

"Remember Kate these are officers and not a boyfriend so no stripping," Tony told her drunkenly.

* * *

_**GIBBS' Residence**_

Gibbs woke up from sleeping on the boat again. He couldn't believe that the sound of the cell phone ringing had woken up. His watch had just clicked past midnight. "Damnit," he cursed as he answered the cell. "This better be damn important," he hissed into the phone.

"Hey Boss," Tony said cheerfully as he slightly slurred his words.

"Did you get him?" Gibbs could hear Abby's voice and it sounded like Kate was trying to explain something as well.

"This better be damn important DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he rubbed his forehead and cheek. "It's after midnight," he added.

"Uh, yeah Boss, about that," Tony said very slowly and carefully. "Can you come and pick Abby, Kate and me from the police department?" Tony said.

Gibbs thought for a moment. "What the hell have you lot done now, DiNozzo?" He asked.

"Boss… It wasn't my fault. I went to have a few drinks and then I was joined by Abs and Kate so we decided to talk and have a few beers," Tony explained. "But then the baseball came on so we played a drinking game. The bartender took our keys but I didn't realize he also took my house keys so when we got to my place I couldn't get in. So we all started going to Abby's and we were singing but got interrupted by cops and yada yada yada," Tony fell silent for awhile. "They won't let us leave without someone vouching for us Boss," Tony said.

Gibbs thought for a moment. It was obvious that they all had been drinking but at least they weren't hiding that fact. He thought about leaving them there to sober up. Aw, hell he couldn't do that. "I'll be right there," Gibbs said as he hung up the phone. He sat up and looked around before standing to his feet. "Kids," he grumbled.

* * *

A/N 2: Ok, this is longer than the others and a little different. Not as serious as the previous one. Oh and the the comment about Random Hearts... Before anyone says anything... I didn't like it and did joke that to a friend that Random Hearts needed a sex scene to speed things up.


	13. Post My Other Left Foot

_**TWO PEAS IN A POD!  
**__**Post – My Other Left Foot  
**__**Title – Separate Parts**_

_**A/N: Abby talks to Tony about the first body part she ever came across. Tony finds out something that had always bugged him.**_

_**Quotes – Undercover Blues, Lawrence Of Arabia**_

Abby slid across the room on her chair before repeating the same action. It wasn't just her dark outlook that had her interested in these types of cases that involved body parts. She was wired and had so much energy to expel. Not that, that was abnormal for her. The chair was suddenly stopped in its tracks by a foot.

"Interesting," Abby said with a smile. "That's funny. There's a shoe," she spun in circles on the chair and made a noise that sounded like a high squeal.

"That's funny, there's a foot in it," Tony laughed. "I brought you some Caf-Pow but by the looks of it you've already OD'd on that stuff," he told her as he placed the cup in her hands.

"Thanks," she said as she began drinking from the novelty cup.

"Hey, I thought you would've gone home already," Tony said as he looked at the computer screen that was working on finding a DNA match for another team on another case.

"Almost done?" Tony asked her. Abby seemed a million miles away. "What are you thinking about Abs?" He wanted to know what was on her mind.

"You ever think of the day you decided to become a cop?" Abby's question seemed right out of the blue.

"Can't narrow it down to one day," Tony answered with a shrug as he followed Abby around while she wheeled herself. "But you know, I wanted to carry a weapon and a badge. I wanted to be in authority," Tony shrugged. "It was either that or become a mercenary," he laughed.

Abby snorted and shook her head. "Can just imagine you as a mercenary Tony. All tough, rugged and take no prisoners," she added.

"Yeah… Take no prisoners… No prisoners!" He quoted. "I just thought that being a cop or a detective I could really make a difference and have a hell of a time doing so," and he figured that he had been successful at doing that. "What about you? What was the day you decided to become a forensic scientist?" Tony asked out of curiosity. He had always wondered what had gotten her interest in it.

"I was just a little girl," Abby begun the story.

"You're still a little girl," Tony flashed her a joking smile.

"Really funny, Tony," Abby laughed at the joke. "I was about ten at the time. My kid brother and I use to go into an old car yard. Where they use to crush cars and have scrap metal," she explained as she thought back to that one particular time. "You know we use to look at the cars and try and work out their past. You know, just to see if we could figure out who owned them and how they got to the car yard," Abby continued the story.

"You became a forensic scientist because of old broken down cars?" Tony raised his eyebrows. "Coming from you… I honestly can really believe that," he said with a shrug. With Abby, anything was plausible.

Abby shook her head and laughed as she spun around on the chair again. "No, silly," Abby said but her mood turned solemn. "There was a bunch of cars that they just brought into the yard so we jumped the fence and did our usual, 'who'd this belong to and why'd they get this certain car' thingy. It was all going business as usual until my brother noticed the boot open," she had stopped fidgeting on the chair as she thought back even harder. "It was there we found an arm. Oh he cried, but not me. We ran home and called the cops and I went back to the car. I found myself morbidly curious to find out what had happened and where the arm came from… Who it belonged to or how it got there?" She finished so she could take another drink.

"I always thought you had a sense of morbid curiosity," Tony commented to keep the mood light.

"Well I always have I guess. But this like cemented my interest in forensic science," Abby continued. "Unfortunately, they wouldn't let a ten year old girl observe the case," she huffed and tried to sound angry about it but it didn't work. "I didn't find out what happened until about a week after when the story appeared in the paper," she said. "So, I thought I could really learn the secrets of life and death. Also I would be able to help solve crimes and be like a detective but not like a detective," Abby explained as she roughly concluded the story.

Tony laughed. "I bet you like playing with the high tech doodas as well," he chimed in.

"Oh, they're the perks," Abby said. "Also I get to use big words and stir people up with them," this time it was her turn to laugh.

"Oh, I bet," Tony said. "If it'd keep you interested in forensics I'd happily sacrifice my body parts to you," he said as he was about to.

"There's only one body part of yours I'd be interested in Tony," Abby couldn't help but smile.

Tony's face turned red when his back was turned. That sounded odd and he almost had an urge to cross his legs. "Abs!" He exclaimed in shock.

"What? You don't want to give me your brain?" Abby asked.

Tony sighed as he went to leave. "See you tomorrow," he waved at her as he left Abby's Lab.


	14. Post One Shot, One Kill

**Two Peas In A Pod**

**TITLE – Save-the-day Cake**

**Post – One Shot, One Kill**

**A/N: Abby and Tony just want Gibbs to know that his actions don't go unnoticed by them. Even if Gibbs wished his actions did go unnoticed.**

**Minor Spoilers – One Shot, One Kill**

* * *

Tony feverishly rubbed his neck at the preposterous idea that Abby had suggested to him. Come on she had pleaded with him. But Tony was a strong willed and he emphatically said no. Abby had insisted and insisted that she was doing it for the benefit of Gibbs. Tony dared to think otherwise.

"Come on, Tony," Abby pleaded for what felt like the hundredth time. Her hand rubbed over the box that sat on her desk.

"No," Tony said enthusiastically. "He'll hate it," he told her.

"Oh come on," Abby pleaded with her eyes. It was almost impossible to resist. "Come on," she said to him.

"Abby," Tony whined but he was already giving in. "Alright, get the candles," Tony ordered. This was too ridiculous. He opened the box to reveal a large chocolate cake. Abby brought over the candles and they began sticking in the candles one by one. "Sure that's enough?" He asked as it seemed every inch of cake was covered with a candle.

"It has to be… There's no more room," Abby frowned.

"Oh oh… We're dead," Tony said. "You know that Gibbs'll probably kill me for this? He's going to hate it," he added with a hint of fear in his tone.

"Love it or hate it at least he knows his actions doesn't go unnoticed by those closest to him," Abby explained. "So carry the cake and let's get our butts up there Tony," she smirked.

Tony shrugged his shoulders before lifting the cake box up. This still sounded like an extremely bad idea but talking Abby out of anything had been a distinct impossibility. It was easier to just play along and hope the consequences weren't too severe. Gibbs was putting the filing away when Tony and Abby strolled into the bullpen. There was a grim look on their boss' face as he knew that the forensic scientist and his senior field agent had something going on in their minds.

"I thought I sent you home DiNozzo," Gibbs turned to face them.

"You did Boss," Tony responded as he chose to think carefully. "You know that you did a really great thing today," he said.

"Really, really great," Abby chimed in enthusiastically. "You were really brave Boss-man," she added.

"I'm just doing my job," Gibbs grumbled. He hated that they seemed to be making a mountain out of a mole hill.

"Oh come on Boss-man," Abby said. "We have a surprise for you," she said slowly.

"Yeah, it's about time that your actions get noticed," Tony added as he placed the box on the table. Gibbs eyed it cautiously. "So, Abby and I decided… Eventually… To show you that your actions do get noticed," Tony said a little uncomfortably.

"I don't do it to get noticed," Gibbs told them.

"All the more reason for this," Abby said to him. She opened the box. "Surprise!" Abby and Tony yelled together. "Happy save-the-day to you… Happy save-the-day to you," Abby began to sing and Tony reluctantly joined in a second later. "Happy save-the-day dear boss-man… Happy save-the-day to you," they concluded.

Gibbs tried desperately to get them to shut up. Unfortunately, they were on a roll.

"For he's a jolly good-fellow," the Gibbs stare cut them off.

Gibbs looked gobsmacked for a second as he looked at the candles and large cake full of candles. This was the last thing he had ever expected. Part of him admired it though. He felt his face warm up at the thought of his team members doing this. "Look," Gibbs watched DiNozzo use a lighter to light each candle.

"We know Boss," Tony said.

"Now… Blow out those candles and make a wish," Abby said. "You deserve it Boss-man," she told him.

"I'm not going to do that," Gibbs protested.

"Please," Abby whined. "I worked on this cake all afternoon," she said.

"Abs!" Gibbs cut her off. "I know you brought this from the bakery down the street," he said as he pointed to the label on the box.

"But I did spend the day going there, picking out the cake bringing it back," she explained and then turned on the begging puppy eyes to full.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. He could never resist Abby's pleads. "This is ridiculous," he muttered as he sat down at his desk.

"Don't forget to make a wish Boss," Tony said cheerfully. This earned him a Gibbs stare down. "Go ahead Boss," he added.

Gibbs closed his eyes and blew out all the candles on the cake. He opened them and gave a dramatic disappointed sigh. "Damn," he said softly.

"What's the matter Boss-man?" Abby asked him.

Gibbs looked down at the cake. "It's still here," he answered her.

Abby laughed as she stood back. Gibbs had a hard-as-rock exterior but occasionally that wall broke and showed that he was human after all. "Of course it's there… Did you think it was going to magically disappear?" She asked.

"Was hoping," Gibbs said as he took the plastic fork from Abby's hand.

"We're good at working some magic Boss," Tony responded quickly. "But even we can't make cakes disappear," he laughed. "The only way to make the cake disappear is to eat it," he shrugged his shoulders and headed to his desk.

"Where are you going?" Abby turned around with two forks in hand.

"Home, of course," Tony answered.

"Sit down mister," Abby ordered. "You're eating this cake."

"I didn't do anything to deserve any," Tony said as he looked at the cake and at the bag he was holding then back and forth a couple of times. "Thanks for the offer anyway," he said.

"You showed bravery today to Tony," Abby said as she tried not to laugh and signed something to Gibbs that Tony didn't quite see.

"Yeah, real bravery," Gibbs smirked.

"Yeah right," Tony muttered. He hadn't done anything brave today. They were all pulling his leg for some reason.

"It takes a brave man to dress like one of the village people in public DiNozzo," Gibbs said with all the seriousness he could muster. "Come and have some damn cake," Gibbs told him.

"Come on Tony," Abby held up the third fork. "Dig in," she told him.

Tony's eyes lit up in a way that made them look at each other with insightful looks. If it had taken anything more to get Tony to eat some cake, Abby would've had Gibbs hold him down while she force fed him a piece.

Fortunately it didn't come to that.

"You want to know something DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked once they'd finished all they could eat. "What goes around comes around," he gave the pearl of wisdom.

"Don't know what you mean Boss," Tony said as he grabbed his bag once again.

"Next time you do something right we're all having cake," Abby squealed with delight.

"It'll be a long time in between cake then," Tony halfheartedly laughed to brush what he said off as a joke. He wasn't sure if the others had brought it or not. That wasn't important to him.

"It'd be well worth the wait," Abby said as she followed Tony to the elevator.

"Why the hell does she have to make a big deal out of everything?" Gibbs asked himself while smiling.


	15. Post Good Samaritan

_**Two Peas In A Pod  
**__**Title – His Perfect Girl  
**__**Post – Good Samaritan  
**__**A/N – After meeting Charlie… Abby and Tony use the computer to make the perfect woman for Gibbs.  
**__**Spoilers – Good Samaritan, Weird Science (1985 movie)**_

Tony and Abby stayed in her lab after the case had been finished up. It was a strange request for Tony but she pulled up the computer identikit on the computer without questioning. Abby looked at the screen and wondered what Tony was trying to get her to do.

"Thought we'd play the good Samaritans and find Gibbs' perfect woman," Tony grinned at the forensic scientist.

"Sounds good," Abby smiled back. She knew it was going to be fun. "Sounds fun… That's actually a really funny idea," she added.

"I actually got this off the 1985 movie, Weird Science. Directed and written by John Hughes, starring Kelly LeBrock and Anthony Michael Hall," Tony only recalled the movie because he had watched the movie just a couple of nights ago. "Two young people make a magazine composite of their perfect woman and scan it onto the computer. During a power surge the magazine composite came to life causing their perfect woman to turn into a real person," Anthony explained.

"Ooh… Weird movie Weird Science," Abby laughed. But she wanted to play the game anyway. It sounded like a really fantastic idea. "Where should we start?" She asked.

"Well we know about his exes that they were red heads," Tony said. He thought for awhile. "It's got to be short hair I guess," he searched through the internal list of movies he had good recall for. "Like Jamie Lee Curtis's hair in Halloween H2O. Just a bit of spiky," he told her.

Abby clicked on a few buttons and the red short spiky hair appeared on screen. It looked funny when there wasn't a head for it to be attached to. Abby chuckled as she waited for the next idea from Tony. "How about eyes next?" She suggested.

"I think there's a choice of two sets of eyes," Tony answered. "If we can get… Hey, got the internet connected to this program?" Tony asked and Abby nodded. "Get Bill O'reilly's eyes and David Duchovny's eyes," he said and waited for her to do the same.

"That's cool. I guess he'd be attracted to a set of eyes similar to his," Abby laughed as he found the picture of Fox News Analyst Bill O'reilly. She downloaded the picture and cut and cropped the eyes off the picture and brought them down to scale so they could fit in the picture.

"Funny… But nah," Tony laughed at this.

Abby shook her head and did the same with the actor David Duchovny. The hazel eyes seemed to fit better. "Perfect-o!" She exclaimed and went to attaching a face on the background as she went through different shades of tan.

"That's the right one," Tony said to make her stop.

"How about we bring the cheeks in slightly and square the bottom of the chin," Abby told him as she smiled.

"You don't have someone in mind do you?" Tony asked. It sounded like she did. He tried to think of what actress or anybody they possibly knew. Nobody was coming to mind.

"The ears… I'll just stretch the tips up a bit," Abby told him and stretched them with the mouse and re-pasted the hair. That was starting to look familiar to Tony.

"Actually that woman's starting to look a little familiar," Tony commented. They did the finishing touches around the face. "Ah-ha," Tony exclaimed excitedly. "Just thin out the eyebrows a bit. He watched Abby as she did so and then it hit him. Abby finally finished feminizing the eyes. "Now who is that?" Tony struggled to think of who the makeshift woman reminded him of. His brain was struggling with the memory… He had seen someone like that not too long ago.

"Actually," Abby said as she attached the file and sent it to Tony's computer. "I was watching a movie with Timmy. You know he has phobia right… It's so funny and so cute," Abby said as she quickly derailed the topic of conversation.

"Phobias? Good," Tony hoped that Abby would tell him but knew deep down that Abby never betrayed anybody's confidence. That wasn't her style. "What were you watching Abs?" He fought to put the conversation back on track.

"Oh the movie… Right, yeah, we were watching Turbulence. I think Ray Liotta's so damn sexy," she noted the disheartened look in Tony's eyes. "You and McGee are sexy… Just not Ray Liotta badass sexy," she explained.

"Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd hear," Tony smiled. "You maybe sexy to, but not Jamie Lee Curtis sexy," he joked and poked his tongue out.

"Anyway… Yeah that woman was in Turbulence," Abby told him before they quickly went into the elevator and to the third floor. There were some people on the floor but not too many. Abby and Tony accessed the computer and brought up the composite picture they had created and brought it up on the large plasma screen. They left it there while they waited for Gibbs to come back.

Gibbs briskly walked down the steps and into the bullpen after talking with Director Morrow. He walked past the plasma screen once before finally registering that there was a picture on it. He stopped and stared at it. "Jenny?" He asked himself. It sure did look like her but the eyes were all wrong. "What is this?"

"Does she look familiar Boss?" Tony asked him. "An old flame perhaps?" Tony waited for a response.

Gibbs turned and stared at Tony and Abby. "Like her Boss-man?" Abby asked. "We can set you two up," that was when the Gibbs stare looked dangerous.

Tony gulped. "You know that imaginary line?" Abby nodded. "We crossed it… Run!" Tony said as they both turned their bodies and ran out of harm's way.

Gibbs shook his head before turning back to the plasma. "How the hell did they get a picture of her?" He asked himself. Or more to the fact why had they done that? One of these days he was going to really get his hands on those two and really teach them a lesson.

* * *

A/N: For all those who don't know… David Duchovny is the actor who played Fox Mulder, and also starred in Playing God and Kalifornia. Hope you enjoyed this silly, silly chapter.


	16. Post Enigma

_**TWO PEAS IN A POD  
**__**POST – Enigma  
**__**TITLE – Who to turn to?**_

_**A/N: Tony marvels at Gibbs' relationship with his former CO and wonders if there'd be anyone in the world who'd do for him what Gibbs had done.**_

_**Spoilers – Enigma**_

Tony walked into the lab. There wasn't too much to do really since this was a case that mostly Gibbs dealt with. He always wondered about Gibbs' military service. Unfortunately, the former Gunny never spoke about it and it was near impossible to get blood out of a stone… Well that wasn't entirely true… Getting blood out of a stone would be easier. Tony absent-mindedly played with his pen in his hands.

"Abby's Lab calling space cadet… Come in space cadet," she clicked her fingers right in front of his eyes.

"Yeah, sorry," Tony said as he was a little startled.

"What's the matter?" Abby asked. "You know you only seem to come down here when you need something," she smirked.

"You're right," Tony said as he went to leave.

"Hey mister!" Abby's voice reverberated through her lab. When Abby commanded something everyone had to listen. "I was joking. Making a joke. Ha ha, heehee," she assured him and wheeled a chair over to him, silently ordering him to sit down.

"Alright," Tony responded.

"Now what is your problem?" Abby stared deeply into his soul. Ordering the inner truth to come out.

It seemed that the direct approach was the order of the day. Tony wondered how far he could get to escape. How did Abby know when to push the certain buttons? "I was just thinking," Tony said softly as Abby pulled up a chair and rolled it around so it was in front of him. Tony laughed before he continued. This seemed so much a sign of vulnerability to open up like this. "It's just you know what Gibbs did for his former CO… It's just really amazing," he shrugged his shoulders.

"And now you're wondering if he'll do the same with you?" Abby prodded deeper.

"I don't think so, I don't know. I know if I did that, he'd probably headslap me all the way back to Iraq," Tony shrugged his shoulders.

"Of all this time, you still can't accept people want to protect you?" Abby raised an eyebrow and waited for a response.

"I don't know," Tony stood up and began pacing around. He needed to move. "I just don't know why they would… But part of me wants him to protect me and part of me wants to know how far Gibbs would go for me," it even sounded worse than it did inside his head.

"You wanna know?" Abby asked. "Gibbs would go as far as you would go to protect him," she said with a straight face. "Why can't you see that?" She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a reassuring hug.

"It's just I never had anyone watch my six before. Not like you lot," he said.

"You have our six and we have your six… Everybody's got everybody else's six," Abby smiled but Tony didn't have to see it to know it was there. "Just remember that," she said into his ear.

"You really think that's the case?" Tony wondered if it was true. Never through his whole life had he had people who were caring enough to watch his back.

"I know it's the case and when Abby knows something… Abby knows something," She walked around to face him. "You really are a mystery wrapped in an enigma… You know that Tony?" She asked. There was silence that followed. "You actually remind me of one of those party games called pass the parcel," Abby continued on.

Tony looked at her oddly. "Pass the parcel?" He raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"If you tell me that you haven't heard of pass the parcel I might seriously have to think about hurting you… You have heard of it right? You've played it right?" Abby asked in a serious tone.

"Of course I have," Tony playfully slapped her on the shoulder. "But really… How can I remind you of that game?" He asked.

"Well you keep going around in circles with everyone and occasionally someone would be able to tear off a layer. Sooner or later… Someone's going to tear off a layer and find a big huge surprise in there," Abby clapped her hands together loudly.

"Okay," Tony said. "But there's nothing really down there… I mean," Tony quickly corrected him self as he realized how bad that sounded.

"Don't say that," Abby backhanded him on the arm.

"Well it's true," Tony said as he waited for Abby to turn around and he slapped her on the back of the head lightly.

"Hey," She said.

"Am I going to have to separate you two again?" Gibbs gruff voice entered the lab before he did.

"Not at all Boss," Tony said as he felt a boot to the back of his leg.

Tony brushed past her giving her a gentle nudge on the way. "You two! DiNozzo… Bullpen… Abby… Work!" He said in a mock irritated tone. The funny thing was, was that he had a hard day but seeing Abby and Tony mucking around with each other cheered him up. They always cheered him up by being them.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the update. I had problems trying to come up with something to come off of the episode. But next episode… Is Bete Noir. LOL. You should get a kick out of it.


	17. Post Bete Noir

_**Two Peas In A Pod 17  
**__**Post – Bête Noir  
**__**Title – EXPOSURE**_

_**Summary – We all have a Bete Noir… So what's the best way to rid yourselves of it? Exposure of course. Abby and Tony spend the night in Autopsy.**_

"But Tony," Abby said in an almost whiney tone.

Tony shook his head feverishly. He hadn't planned on even thinking about spending the night in autopsy with Abby. It wasn't his idea of getting rid of her phobia of autopsy. "You can do it by yourself," Tony said. "If Ducky would let you," he told her.

"But Tony," Abby repeated again.

"There is no need for me to go down there to," Tony told her.

"What about your irrational fear of the undead… Of Vampires… Of Nosferatu… Of Dracula," Abby reminded him of his fear.

"Having the life drained out of you by two puncture marks is not an irrational fear," Tony retorted.

"Is it being killed by a vampire or actually becoming a vampire that you find scary," Abby stared at him. "And plus I don't think I can do this by myself… Please Tony," she pleaded once again.

Before Tony had a chance to say no again he found himself being dragged to the elevator by the arm. This wasn't how he expected to spend the night. They entered Autopsy and waited for Ducky to finish the work he was doing.

"What can I do for you two?" Ducky asked.

"I was wondering if it's alright for me to spend the night in autopsy and Tony wants to spend the night in one of your casket thingies," she said.

Tony tried to do every bit of sign and body language he knew to get Ducky to say no to this. Either Ducky didn't know this or he was ignoring the young man. "Sure that should be alright my dear girl," Ducky responded. "It might do you good. Now Anthony… It's not something I'd usually recommend. But number thirteen is unoccupied and the motor is burned out. You can take that one Anthony," he said.

"Thanks Ducky," Tony responded._ Yeah, thanks a bloody lot._

Tony smiled at Abby when she turned around. "Thanks for doing this Tony," Abby hugged him as he walked over to the slabs. "I don't think I could do this without you here," She told him.

"Yeah," Tony said with a laugh. "I think you should buy me a big breakfast in the morning. Tony climbed onto the slab and received a kiss on the forehead. "Going to read me a bedtime story to?" He asked.

"Shut up Tony," She pulled the sheet over him.

"And tucking me in… What did I do to deserve this?" He asked as he felt himself being slid into the darkness with a large shwish and then clang. _Damnit DiNozzo! How the hell do you get yourself in these situations?_

Ducky smiled at Abby lying on an autopsy table and shook his head at the thought of Tony spending a whole night on a slab. He switched off the light and exited Autopsy to allow the two their privacy.

"What's happening?" Tony shouted. He wished he could have taken those words back. The sound of his own voice bounced off each of the metal walls.

"Duck's left… He's turned off the lights… It's really dark in here," Abby shouted so that Tony could hear her.

"That's funny… It's really dark in here as well," Tony respond and laughed at how his voice was sounding. "Luke… I am your father," he said in an extremely deep voice. "Come over to the dark side of the force Abby," Tony almost cracked up laughing.

"Are you going to take this seriously?" Abby asked.

"I am… This is my serious face," Tony responded. "You know what I feel like?" He asked.

"Darth Vader?" Abby shouted. She was glad to have the joking Agent around. Every time her eyes closed her heart rate increased to pump adrenaline through her body to keep her from falling asleep.

"No… Since my voice reverberates, I feel like one of those Visitors from the miniseries V. Starring Marc Singer, Michael Ironside and Robert Englund who was widely known for his role as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare On Elm Street," Tony continued explaining on. "You know that was Johnny Depp's first movie role?"

Abby had already kind regulated her breathing to the steady drone of Tony's ramblings. She wasn't sure if it was done deliberately but Tony's continual movie references were keeping her mind free of any negative thoughts about being in autopsy. Or maybe all the referencing was just to keep Tony's mind at ease. Any which way, it didn't matter because her breathing was settling down. Eventually she eased into a comfortable sleep.

Tony thought for awhile after it was apparent that Abby was either asleep or ignoring him. "I wonder if this is what a coffin feels like," he said to himself…

* * *

Sudden light broke through and the loud noise woke Tony up. "Hello….. Baby!" Tony sat up as the slab was pulled out.

"What?" Abby asked.

"A Nightmare On Elm Street four Dream Master. I really have to get you to watch more movies," Tony said as he hopped off the slab and began scratching Abby behind the ear… "Good…. Zoltan," he joked. "All better now?"

"I think I've conquered Autopsy… I woke up and I wasn't autopsied," Abby said with a bright smile. "You?"

Tony shrugged. "Remind me never to spend a night in one of those things again," he told her. "I'll let you know if I ever come across a vampire," he laughed.

* * *

A/N: Film/TV referenced. V: The Mini-Series, A Nightmare On Elm Street 1 and 4, Zoltan: Hound Of Dracula and Empire Strikes Back


	18. Post The Truth Is Out There

_**WARNING/WARNING/WARNING – contains sexual references**_

_**Two Peas In A Pod 18  
**__**POST – The Truth Is Out There  
**__**TITLE – Fetishes**_

_**Summary - Abby and Tony talk about Fetishes and Aliens. Of course they do.**_

_**Spoilers – The Truth Is Out There and Cocoon**_

Tony waited for Abby to finish what she was doing in the lab. For the type of case that it was it seemed that there wasn't too much lab work involved. Then again, anything with the prospect of latex sounded so intriguing to Tony. Especially when it came to wearing it over the head.

"So…" Tony let out slowly. "Latex, I never think about latex as in for masks," he waited at the Lab's entrance.

"Of course _you_ wouldn't," Abby emphasized that. "It's funny though Tony. There are a lot of fetishes involving latex," she said with a huge grin on her face. She was never uncomfortable with talking to Tony.

"Fetishes? You have fetishes? Surely you're yanking my chain," Tony said.

"I kid you not," Abby laughed.

Tony waggled his eyebrows. "Do tell," he said with a smile.

"You first," Abby responded.

"I don't have any fetishes…" Tony's voice trailed off in thought. "Alright, there's this one with I like to have women in bikinis in a hose fight before going at it," Tony never let his eyes leave Abby's face. "Ever heard of the term… Slippery when wet? Well I like them like that… It's like a slip… and sliiiide," he used his hands to accentuate what he was saying.

"Not very kinky," Abby said.

"Alright!" Tony said as he thought for a moment later. "There's the schoolmistress… With an elongated ruler. I know it sounds crazy but it's a real turn on to be hit on the inside of the thigh," he said.

"Now that's getting to the realms of physical domination," Abby responded. "You know there are videos on youtube that have men getting kicked in the balls by women," Abby began walking to the elevator.

"Why are you looking up Fetishes on youtube?" Tony eventually followed her.

"Well this one guy I dated wanted me to stretch out his body in a most awkward way and believe me he was no contortionist," Abby said. "So I looked for information on how to get it done. But couldn't find it, but I did find a fetish that made him very satisfied," she explained.

"Well what is your fetish then?" Tony asked as they entered the elevator.

"My fetish is that I love to perform other people's fetishes," Abby said.

"What's your favorite fetish that you've performed?" Tony asked.

"Jumping up and down saying how bad I was and how bad I want to be. This man thought it as foreplay," Abby answered.

"And I thought this girl wanting sex while I pledged my allegiance to the flag was totally out there," Tony shrugged his shoulders.

The conversation hit silence. Tony began thinking about the aspect of the case. It was really true that this case had some strange stuff to it. "Wearing an Alien mask kind of makes me think. You know I was thinking about Men In Black…"

"Men In Black… The actual Men In Black or the movie Men In Black?" Abby asked.

"The movie with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones," Tony answered. "That movie as well as Cocoon with Jessica Tandy and Brian Dennehy," he explained so that she knew what movies he was talking about.

"I'm almost afraid to ask Tony," Abby said. "Almost."

"Well think about it. We as people love to wear alien masks and that as dress ups. In movies we see Aliens wear human masks," Tony said in thought. "You know I always liked the idea of wearing the Brian Dennehy model," he said with a smile.

* * *

Gibbs had a coffee in one hand and waited for the elevator. The doors opened and he saw Abby and Tony in a deep conversation as they walked out, barely acknowledging Gibbs' presence.

"I don't think I could stand being inside Brian Dennehy… Ew," Abby laughed. "How about you and Jessica Tandy?" She asked.

Gibbs turned around and looked at them blankly. For a split second he wondered what the hell they were talking about but then dismissed the curiosity. He didn't want to know.

"You want to come around and watch Alien tonight?" Tony asked. That's what he felt like watching tonight. "I was thinking of watching Alien then Punked," he said.

"Cool," Abby replied.

"You know Gibbs hasn't heard of Punked. He tried to compare it to Candid Camera," Tony's eyes got that far away look. His mind contemplated the unthinkable.

"No… Tony," Abby said. "Don't even think about it… You're thinking of Punking Gibbs," she responded to his look.

"What?" Tony asked in a bewildered tone.

"I can read you Tony… Gibbs would kill you," she said.

Tony grabbed his bag and went to leave. "Come on Agent A," he said smiling.


	19. Post Unsealed

_**Two Peas In A Pod  
**__**Post – Unsealed  
**__**TITLE – The Great Escape**_

_**Summary – Abby and Tony attempt to play the very old game Great Escape while discussing possibilities of Great Escapes.**_

_**SPOILERS – Great Escape Game (C64 version)  
**__**Special guest appearance**_

* * *

_DING DINGDINGDING_ "Damn it!" Tony cursed as he hit his desk in pure frustration. He carefully read the basic instructions to the computer game again. He quickly turned the sound down as he realized that some people were looking in his direction.

"Tony!" Abby had heard the sound travel from Tony's computer to where she had entered. "What on Earth are you doing to your computer?" She asked in a loud tone.

Tony almost jumped out of the seat. But he was thankful that it was only Abby and not his boss having a go at having an unauthorized game on his station computer. "I'm playing a game… But I'm kind of stuck at the moment," Tony shrugged and acted like he was in deep thought.

"The Great Escape… Why?" She looked at the black and white poor graphics. "This doesn't look like a good game," she couldn't see how this game had drawn Tony's attention so much.

"Argh," Tony yelled in frustration once again.

"What happened?" Abby asked.

"I got put in Solitary confinement," he said as he took a drink of coffee. "There's just something so wrong about this game…" Tony said to it. "Seriously if I was performing the Great Escape… All I need is a bar of soap, black shoe polish, a knife and hair gel," he said as he waited for his computer character to be released.

"I've tried it and I can assure you that it's impossible to carve a realistic gun out of a bar of soap… So, what would you use hair gel for?" Abby asked with a bewildered look on her face.

"I got to make myself look good," Tony laughed. "What would you take to plan your escape," he asked her.

"A knife of course, A guard hat and a master key," Abby said triumphantly. "Do you know how many people see a hat and don't even identify the face?" She said. Truthfully, she didn't have any idea either.

"What? A case of people in a hurry never look at the driver," Tony smiled. "Alright… Who will you take to assist you in your escape?" He asked.

"None other than Gibbs of course," Abby said.

"Damn!" Tony cursed out loud. "I should've gone first… Alright, I'll have Ducky, he'd be a good distraction for the guards while I make my quick getaway," he thought for a moment.

"Ooh, good choice," Abby said.

"Damn I got a blockage in this tunnel in the room," Tony said as he was getting thoroughly annoyed with the game.

"Hey guys," a male voice called out as Pacci stood the other side of the sitting Tony. "Great Escape Tony… Surely you could find a better game. My son played this religiously," Pacci said.

"Just thinking of Great Escapes and I found this game. I thought I'd be Charles Bronson or someone like that," Tony said.

"I heard what you said… I think I'll take Steven Segal, a handgun and plenty rounds of ammunition if I was going to break out of prison," Pacci said.

"Why Segal?" Abby asked.

"He never runs out of ammo," Pacci answered.

"Interesting choice," Tony laughed.

"The shovel is what you need to get through the tunnel," Pacci said. "Go to that guard tower there… See that glitch there? That's a key to open the door on the other side of the screen," He pointed to the screen.

"Right… I knew that," Tony responded.

Abby laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow guys," Pacci said before leaving.

"How's the cold case?" Tony asked.

"I got a lead," Pacci said triumphantly. "Take care you two," he added.

"Ah-ha," Tony exclaimed as he got his character through the mystery door and picked up the pixilated shovel. "Damn it!" He cursed as a game guard came along and sent his character back to solitary confinement.

"Give me a go for awhile," Abby nudged Tony's chair out of the way. The game looked stupid but there was just something addictive about it. Tony allowed her to take control. It seemed that there was no choice but to do so.

"Knock yourself out," Tony told her.

Abby drove Tony to the edge of insanity by completing the simplistic game within half an hour. "You know… It's really not fair," Tony switched off the computer. "I loosened it for you," he said.

"It's a game Tony… How can you loosen it?" They left the bullpen.


	20. Post Dead Man Talking

_**Two Peas In A Pod 20**_

_**POST – Dead Man Talking  
**__**TITLE – The Lighter Side Of Tony**_

_**Summary: Don't know how to sum this up… But Tony is just not feeling his usual self in this one.**_

Kate hadn't let it rest that he had kissed a guy. After having a beer bottle shattered over his head and tackled to the ground, Tony still felt the pain of it. Ducky had checked him over in autopsy but his head was still killing him. The icepack didn't seem to be helping.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs voice bellowed.

Tony winced, he didn't need that volume. "Yeah Boss… Working on the report now," Tony said as he held the paper up.

Gibbs placed two tablets in front of Tony with a glass of water. "Take those," he pointed at them.

"But boss," Tony said. He didn't want them.

"There's nobody around," Gibbs said.

Tony moved his head to the direction of Kate. "No Boss," Tony said. Saying no to Gibbs was never an option especially if he was in such a caring mood. Tony assumed that it was because of losing an agent. "Taking them now Boss," Tony said as he downed the tablets with the water.

"You think you can finish the report?" Gibbs asked in a quiet and concerned tone.

"Yes Boss," Tony answered. Damn he cursed inwardly. He thought he was beginning to sound like that little whiny guy in Way Of The Dragon. 'Yes Boss, Yes Boss'

_**Ten Minutes Later**_

Gibbs looked over at Tony. It was as Tony had feared. His eyes were glazing over. "DiNozzo!" Gibbs called out. The tone even made Kate jump.

"A couple more minutes Boss," Tony held one hand up as he was trying to write the report at the same time.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs said louder.

As if by an unseen force, Tony's pen flew out of his hand as he jumped to his feet and he brought the report over to Gibbs. "Done and with some minutes to spare," Tony checked his watch.

"Tony…" Gibbs said. It was clear that Tony had begun feeling the effects of the tablets.

"Boss?" Tony asked raising his eyebrows in continual fashion. He heard the elevator sound go off. Gibbs rubbed his head. There was always something about the elevator dinging that always got Tony's attention when he was like this. "Home time!" He exclaimed loudly.

"Where are you going?" Kate was bewildered by his actions.

"Home… It's home time," Tony told her.

"DiNozzo! With me," Gibbs stood up.

"I can't go… Oh come on… That's not fair. I did good work and you're saying I can't have the car?" Tony asked in a shocked tone.

Tony followed Gibbs down to Abby's lab. They had some paper work to finish upstairs but he couldn't have Tony running around in the Bullpen off his face and there was no way he would let Tony go home in that state.

* * *

_**Abby's Lab**_

Abby had buried her self deep into her work. Whenever there was a death of an NCIS agent, her worry for Team Gibbs went into overdrive. But they were safe now. The elevator dinged and Tony and Gibbs waltzed in.

"I've seen this movie before… It's so real though… It's in three D. Feels like you really here," Tony's glazed over eyes looked around the Lab. "Can I get some popcorn?" He asked Gibbs.

"Abs," Gibbs said to the Goth girl. "You think you can look after Stony here till he sobers up?" He asked her.

"Sober up? I only had one drink… Honest Boss! Come on. Is that why you won't let me have the car?"

Gibbs quickly exited the Lab. He knew that the Senior Field Agent was in good hands and Abby would be able to entertain the Agent until the ride was over. He wished that they could find a dose of painkillers mild enough to not effect Tony's state of mind.

"Whatcha doing Abs?" Tony asked in a long drawn out way.

"I'm waiting for a fingerprint match to pair up with this fingerprint found at an Oregon Training Facility," Abby explained. She was irritated that the system wasn't finding a match. "But my baby's not speaking to me," she said.

Tony leaned closer to the computer and spoke loudly to it. "What's your major malfunction boy?! Where are you from? Dallas? There's only two things that came out of Dallas… JR and crap! And you don't look like a Tycoon to me," Tony shouted at it.

Abby couldn't help but laugh. "Speak nicely to it Tony," She told him. It was always amusing to see him this way.

"Did you ever match the pairs Abby?" Tony said as if looking for something. "You know it is the only game that relies on Skill, Logic, chance and luck," well he wasn't sure if there was more to it now.

"Oh match the pairs. What you looking for?" She was curious.

"The deck of cards so I can help you match up what you looking for," Tony responded as she started going through the desk drawers. "Didn't you have a deck down here somewhere… We'll be able to get through it quicker," he said. Tony closed the drawers and shrugged his shoulders.

"Look…" Abby said as she tried to steer Tony's attention away from looking through everything. "I think you took the cards last time you're here," she said. Times like these, she thought it was the same as dealing with a hyperactive child.

"Did I?" He asked himself mainly. "I did… Didn't I?" Tony couldn't remember. But if Abby said he did then he must have. If he must have left them home then how would Abby find her matches?

"Sit down on the chair," Abby ordered. It was obvious why Gibbs had brought him down here but she did have some work to get through and it was difficult to keep an eye the agent as well.

"You know what works better than matches?" Tony asked. It seemed an obvious question.

"What?" Abby asked as she started lining up some evidence.

"A lighter," he shrugged.

"Not those matches," Abby said as she tried to remain calm.

"Matches a good to," Tony just happened to get on the matches tangent. "You know because if I can't like my cigar…" He began in his John Wayne voice. "I can't have a smoke and the whole world will go to hell," he said. "So find those matches before everything's shot to hell," Tony added.

Abby shook her head. She loved the voices but often wondered if he'll improve his repertoire or just keep with the older ones. "Going to get new material mister?" Abby asked as she labeled the evidence.

"I don't know what you mean," he said in a slight nasal tone.

"Who's that supposed to be?" Abby asked curiously. She hadn't heard that one before.

"My name's Christopher Walken," Tony said eagerly.

Abby shook her head. "Way off by the sounds of it… But since you're out of it… I'll let it slide," she said. Abby thought that it was good that Tony was trying new voices. "Why don't you try it again?" Abby asked. At least keeping him.

"Say it again," Tony said.

"Not even close," Abby responded.

"Say it again," Tony said.

"Way off… Not even in the same ballpark mister," Abby told him.

"Not doing Christopher," Tony put his hands on his hips.

"Who then?" Abby asked.

"It's that drill sergeant guy from Mad TV's production of a Robert Downey Senior written military academy spoof, the 1980s classic… Up The Academy, starring Ralph Macchio before he was the Karate Kid," Tony's voice got louder as he spoke. "You're saying you've never seen Up The Academy?" Tony asked in a somewhat disappointed tone which didn't sound too disappointed.

"No," Abby answered. She wasn't put off by his tone. "Is it good?"

"Is it good? Is it good? Is it good?!" Tony asked loudly. Abigail Scuito… Put that movie on the list," he pointed at her.

"List?" Abby looked up.

"The list of classic movies you have to see…" Tony sat on the chair. "Why does nobody ever see the classics anymore? These days it's about the explosions and the blood and gore… Back then… The movies had soul," Tony stifled a yawn.

"Tired Tony?" Abby asked.

"Not really," Tony lied. Of course he was feeling tired. Everyone seemed to know his routine when he was high on painkillers. Another yawn stopped the argument as his eyes began to droop. He sighed as he laid his head back to think. His racing mind began to slow.

About fifteen minutes later Gibbs came in to check on Tony mainly. "How's he doing?" Gibbs asked.

"Stage three reached and completed sir," Abby gave a mock salute and pointed to Tony who was out like a light.

"Good," Gibbs answered. "And Abby… Don't call me sir," he said before leaving.


	21. Post Missing

_**TWO PEAS IN A POD 21**_

_**POST – Missing  
**__**TITLE – Misdirected Anger**_

_**Summary – Tony feels angry and thinks he has a right to be. But who can he be angry at?**_

_**Spoilers – Missing**_

Abby couldn't contain herself. She finished up her work and shoved it on a trolley. Usually, she didn't make house calls for the other teams but she had to know that Tony was ok. The trouble magnet had gotten him self into trouble yet again but papa-bear protects his cubs and Gibbs brought Tony home. She virtually danced in the elevator ride up. Abby wasn't sure what was going on but she had walked into World War 3.

"I don't care McGee! Just piss off!" Tony's voice echoed throughout the bullpen.

"All I asked was…" McGee slightly stammered over his own words. "Uh, I just uh, wanted to know if you uh, you're ok?" He eventually got the words out.

"Yeah? Yeah?! Right!" Tony shouted into his face. "You want me to take some time off… You want more time at my desk! You want to take over my job?!" He said. The anger was easily flowing out of him.

"No," McGee shook his head.

"Then piss off McGee! Get outta here!" Tony said.

Abby had heard enough. Tony hadn't changed out of his mud stained shirt yet and his hair was still a mess. She delivered what she needed to and walked up to Tony and pulled him by the ear.

"Ow, Hey!" Tony protested.

"Are you going to stop?" Abby asked in a very annoyed tone. She knew Tony could have an unrelenting temper.

"No…" Tony said. McGee stood in shock as he watched the lab tech drag the senior field agent out of the bullpen. He wasn't sure what he had done to anger Tony so much. "Ouch!" Tony whined as Abby pulled his ear harder. They found a quiet corner on the floor where they could talk privately.

"What's your problem? Why are you going all World War three on McGee?" Abby asked. "Well," she prodded for a straightforward answer.

"There's nothing…" Tony said venomously.

Abby knew him better than that. He was so angry at McGee and he needed to tell her why. "You're forgetting that I can kill you without leaving any physical evidence," she warned with a slight smile.

Tony sighed. "It's just… I come back from being drugged, kidnapped almost killed and find that McGee had made himself comfortable behind my desk. I'm gone for a few hours and McGee jumps into my spot," Tony shifted his feet before turning his attention back on Abby.

"Did he move any of your stuff?" Abby asked.

"No,"

"Did he change anything on your computer?" She asked him.

"No,"

"Then what's your problem mister?" Abby asked the million dollar question.

"It's not everyday you find out that you're easily replaced by someone so… So green!" Tony felt betrayed and shoved aside.

Alas! Tony was making his problem clearer. "You think you've been replaced? Yet you know that it isn't McGee's doing right? Not that what you're thinking is true… But I'm sure that McGee didn't just decide to take over your station," Abby explained. She knew he needed reassurance that his job wouldn't be handed to the next in line if he was gone for a day.

"I know that," Tony said. It was true that he knew that. Tony needed to take his frustration out on someone.

"Then why are you taking out your frustration out on him?" Abby asked. She knew she had Tony cornered and he wasn't about to be able to escape from Abby's questioning.

Tony knew that Abby wasn't taking sides. She was just trying to get the truth out of him. Abby was the only one he felt like he could be his honest, vulnerable self to. "I can't be angry at Kate… She did nothing. I can't be mad at Gibbs because he came to perform the rescue," Tony was mad at himself when he had a chance to calm down. Misdirected anger was always a bad thing.

"We're going out for dinner tonight," Abby said.

"Have a good time," Tony replied.

"You're coming with us… When you change… Dirty brown everywhere doesn't suit you," Abby observed. "McGee and I'll pick you up later and later you can say you're sorry for blowing up," she told him.

"Yes Boss," Tony said.

"Good DiNozzo," Abby laughed. They walked along the windows.

Tony suddenly felt a slap to the back of his head that caused him to rub his head. He turned around. "Ouch," he said as he faced his boss.

"You know better than to think you were being replaced DiNozzo," Gibbs gave the simple explanation for the headslap.

"Yes Boss," Tony shifted uncomfortably. "You know… I heard what you said on the phone… That you were coming for me… When I heard that, I knew you would find me. I knew everything would be alright," Tony said.

"Yep… Don't you forget it," Gibbs responded. "Now go home, get changed before people start thinking that's the new dress code," he said.

"Thank you Boss," Tony said.

"Pick you up in an hour," Abby called out to Tony who was on his way out.


	22. Post Split Decision

_**TWO PEAS IN A POD 22**_

_**Post – Split Decision**_

_**TITLE – The Real Me**_

_**Summary – Abby gets Tony to talk about why he was so angry and relax to a good old movie  
SPOILERS - American Werewolf In London**_

Tony was in his pajamas when the exuberant knock at the door. Everyone had their own special knock. Abby's rapid knock was always noticeable. Tony opened the door for her. He wasn't really surprised to see Abby on the doorstep because it seemed every time he didn't want to talk, she was there.

"Boss-man said you were kind of in a pissy mood when you almost knocked him down on your way out this evening," Abby said. She recalled how Gibbs ordered her to find out what's bugging his senior field agent. She knew that Tony needed to talk but also knew that he wouldn't do it right away. "I brought beer," Abby hoped he wouldn't shut the door in her face.

"Ah, the nectar of the Gods," Tony forced himself to smile.

"I think Gibbs would disagree with you on that," Abby laughed. "Let's watch a movie. And please. No James Bond," Abby pleaded in a mocking tone. "You got anything new?"

"Horror?" Tony waggled his eyebrows. Usually if he suggested a horror flick, girls would start running for the hills. But not Abby.

"What have you got?" Abby leaned forward on the couch.

"Well how about a werewolf one… I have three. American Werewolf In London, Silver Bullet and Dog Soldiers," Tony said as he thumbed through some of his collection.

"How do you fit all your DVD's and videos into your cupboard?" Abby asked just to make some conversation.

"I don't keep all my movies here. I keep a lot in the spare room and occasionally I rotate the collection around," Tony said as he pulled out An American Werewolf In London. This was his favorite werewolf movie.

"I think we're the only ones in the world that can relax while watching a horror movie," Abby said as she motioned for him to sit next to her. Tony did so without saying a word. "Make yourself comfortable," she told him.

Tony grinned as he went to lay his head on her lap but quickly sat up. "You don't mind do you?" He said seriously.

"Do I ever mind?" Abby asked and that relaxed him enough to put his head back on her lap.

Tony shook his head. He liked watching American Werewolf In London. It was his favorite werewolf movie. The sequel had nothing on the original where the werewolves looked more like trolls. Tony put his beer down. As usual he always felt so relaxed being near the Gothic girl. "Thanks," he mumbled as the movie was nearing the end.

"For what?" Abby asked as she laughed at the main character talking to dead people in a movie theater while watching a porno.

"For not pressing me to talk," he explained.

"I know I can't force you to speak if you don't want to," Abby told Tony. "But you know I'll always listen," she added.

"Do you think I'm such a pigheaded, male chauvinistic pig that's shallow?" Tony asked without taking his attention off the action on the scene. He always enjoyed near the end of movies where the action heats up.

"What?" Abby asked. "No I don't think you are," she assured him.

Tony felt Abby jump as a head came rolling around the road as the bystanders started running and screaming. "Everyone seems to think I'm some sort of one-tracked mind. Shallow and always looking for tall blonds to conquer," Tony just began talking.

"Ah," Abby responded.

"What?" Tony asked the question this time. Tony turned the sound down and listened.

"So Kate said something and that's why you left in such a hurry and in a pissed off mood," Abby said.

"I think Kate thinks I'm nothing but a shallow, horny frat boy," Tony sighed. Of course that was what a lot of people thought about him.

"You only have yourself to blame for that one Tony," Abby replied truthfully. "If you act like you do in front of me and show the real you... People would be surprised at what they'll find out," Abby said.

"Oh yeah..." Tony laughed. He knew if he showed Kate half of what he shows Abby she'd have a damn field day. "Honestly, I think that's not such a great day," Tony shrugged his shoulders.

"I think one day you'd strip off that mask, Tony," Abby said. "It should be sooner than later because you're such a great person. If you'd just allow people to see it. But I know you're not ready yet," Abby said to him.

Tony stretched out himself. "I don't know," Tony responded. Acting like the frat boy was a defense mechanism. It kept relationships at arm's length and kept himself protected from harm that a shattered heart could bring.

"Just think about it," Abby said without being too forceful. She didn't want to make him feel threatened or cornered. It was also obvious that Tony's, 'I don't know,' response meant that he was already mulling it over. "Good," Abby said as they watched the closing credits. With the werewolf dead, Tony getting something off his chest... All was right with the world... For now.


	23. Post Weak Link

_**TWO PEAS IN A POD 23**_

_**POST – WEAK LINK**_

_**TITLE – HALLOWEEN**_

_**Summary – Abby and Tony try and talk Kate into watching Halloween.  
Spoilers - Halloween 8, Homeward Bound**_

"Whoa there Kate," Abby called out before Kate had a chance to leave the bullpen and Tony came from the back end of the bullpen. Therefore trapping the female agent where she was.

"Abs... Tony," Kate looked around carefully. She felt like she was being cornered. Usually if this was the feeling she received when Tony and Abby were near her... It meant trouble. All through the case, she'd heard Halloween this... Halloween that. And if she heard one more comparison between Myers and Vorhees she'd shoot Tony.

"Hey Katie," Tony said in the annoying tone as they had Kate trapped behind her desk.

"What's the problem?" Kate asked. She didn't know if she wanted to know that really. It seemed that they were up to something.

"I want you to watch Halloween Katie," Tony said. He looked at her with his eyes sparkling because of the smile.

Kate let out a yell. Since the beginning of the week she has been telling Tony that there's no way she was interested in those types of movies. "I'm not interested Tony... How can you watch that crap?" Kate asked.

"Have you ever seen it Kate?" Abby asked. She'd seen only a couple of Halloween movies. But not the one that Tony had mentioned. A horrible made franchise and a reality show equaled Big Brother in her opinion.

"I don't need to see it to know what it's like... It's the same old story really. It's been done a hundred times before," Kate answered. "Come on. A young boy goes on a rampage because he couldn't do what he wanted so he killed a family member and started a killing spree that gets repeated every year... That's the gist of it right?" She asked.

Tony shrugged his shoulders and looked at Abby. Kate had the the movie down pegged. Almost every horror saga followed the same outline. "Yeah... So?" Tony asked. Abby looked at Tony and then back to Kate.

"So... Once you've seen one, you've seen them all," Kate responded matter-of-factly.

"Not necessarily," Abby piped up. "What set of those movies did you see?" She asked Kate.

"My brothers made me watch Friday the thirteenth before I went on a camp," Kate shrugged. "I saw that and another one... The characters are idiotic," Kate said with a sight. Tony reminded her of all her brothers rolled into one. "For starters... You have the horny school girl... The little miss goody goody... You always know who's going to kill the villain in the end. It's so obvious," Kate said.

"Maybe so," Abby responded positively. "But half the fun is in the journey. Imagining the many ways one can be killed," Abby told her.

Kate shook her head. "How many ways can someone be killed with a knife or machete?" She asked.

"How many ways is there to skin a cat?" Tony asked as he mimicked someone getting slashed with a knife.

"I don't know," Kate answered. She failed to see what could be the big thrill about watching movies where the movie is so predictable, you know what's going to happen as soon as you pull the the DVD off the shelf," she said. She couldn't believe that an NCIS agent was so wrapped up in scary movies. But of course this was Tony and Abby she was talking to. "Even the last reel endings aren't as shocking as they use to be because they're at the end of every single horror movie," Kate reasoned.

"Well where are they suppose to put it? At the beginning?" Tony asked loudly. "It's a signature," he explained. "It's like an action movie... You know the good guy is going to beat down all the enemies... It's like a martial arts movie... The good guy is losing the main fight at the beginning but bounces back to win," Tony continued on. "It's also like a Walt Disney film. You know Shadow was going to come over that hill... But people still watch it... Why?" Tony asked.

"Because it's an entertaining movie," Kate answered.

"Well I happen to find slasher flicks entertaining," Tony said.

"Well you're not normal," Kate responded quickly.

"I do to," Abby piped up once again. Kate just looked at her. "Alright I see what you mean," Abby replied as if reading Kate's mind. "But come on... You watch a good horror movie, get a good scare it'll be like being on a rollercoaster," Abby said. "Fear can give you the illusion of pleasure."

"Yeah... What she said," Tony thrust his hands into his pockets.

Kate thought about jumping the desk and running for the exit. She was well trapped in this predicament. "You two aren't going to leave me alone till I agree to watch a Halloween movie are you?" She asked with a sigh.

Tony and Abby shook their heads. "Actually two," Tony answered. "The original and Halloween Eight," Tony responded.

"Yeah you have to watch the original," Abby responded.

Kate slung her handbag over her shoulder. "Fine... But that's it. After that, you shut up about those movies," there was silence from the other two, "Just the two movies right?" She reiterated strongly.

"Sure Katie," Tony smiled at her.

"It was a great case don't you think?" Abby asked.

"Yeah just ask Kate," Tony laughed.

"Laugh it up Tony... I'd like to see you complete some Seal training," Kate said. She looked him up and down as if assessing him.

"Well I think that question is null and void," Abby added. "They'd never allow him to train with the Navy Seals," She said. "Now maybe in the Marines..."

"As if I'll ever be able to spend time training with the Marines either," Tony said as they quickly moved to the side to allow Gibbs to stroll by. "I think I can survive some Marine or Seal training," Tony said to Abby and Kate.

"I'd pay to see that," Kate laughed as they waited for the elevator to open.

* * *

A/N: When I was watching this episode to get and idea for this chapter... Halloween 8 mentioned by Tony in this episode was on TV that night. Halloween 8 was the Halloween where unfortunately/Fortunately saw an end of an era... Perhaps the best villain/heroine eras in the horror genre. For Halloween and Horror franchise fans, you know who I'm talking about. I don't want to give too much away.


	24. post Revelle

_**Peas In A Pod **_

_**Post – Revelle**_

_**TITLE – The Two Bears**_

_**  
Summary – With Papa Bear downed… The two bears decide it's time for Papa Bear got some Papa bear treatment from his children.**_

_**References – Maniac Cop, Goldilocks & The Three Bears**_

Everybody knew that Gibbs was in a real bad mood when he left NCIS that night. People weren't sure what to do or how to react. Two people in NCIS knew what to do and they were the only ones brave enough to approach the older man when he was like this. Abby and Tony always knew that the door to Gibbs' house was unlocked. But they still entered with some trepidation.

"Boss?" Tony asked. He knew there had to be a reasonable amount of caution and it was obvious that Gibbs was down in the basement.

"Boss-man," Abby called out from above the stairs.

There was along amount of silence before Gibbs responded. "Down here," he said it in an annoyed tone. He didn't want to be disturbed. All Gibbs wanted to do was stay in his basement and work the hell out of his boat.

"We brought Bourbon," Abby said cheerfully.

They all looked down at the workbench to see that the bourbon bottle was almost empty. "Looks like we're just in time boss," Tony shrugged his shoulders as they descended the stairs.

"We just wanted to come down and see if you're alright," Abby interjected.

"If you're going to get drunk and pass out on me like before… You best forget about it," Gibbs snapped at them. It was a bout of misdirected anger. He was thankful that the two didn't flinch at his outburst.

"Drink Boss," Tony lifted up the bottle and shook to get Gibbs' attention.

"You know where the glasses are," Gibbs didn't turn around. He had given up working on the boat and instead just wanted to be alone and reminisce about lost hopes. That seemed to be the order of his life.

Tony handed glasses around. "You want to talk about it Boss," Tony's query seemed more like a statement. He grinned at the thought. Of all the times Gibbs had done this to him it almost felt weird to have this role reversal.

Gibbs shook his head. "Nah," he said before taking a sip. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his feelings.

"Come on Boss," Tony prodded. "How many times have I tried to use that with you… And how many times have you tried to talk me into talking?" Tony asked seriously. It was obvious that it wasn't going to be easy.

"Hundred-hundred," Gibbs answered with a shrug. "But really I am fine… Why don't you and Abby here take this over to Kate? I'm sure she needs you two more," Gibbs stated.

"That would be done tomorrow night," Abby filled Gibbs glass again. "Oh and we brought around take away food," She produced a large plastic bag of Chinese take away. "So there's no excuse and you better not say you're not hungry and you better not tell us you're not in the mood for talking," Abby warned him.

"Yeah… You always got to get us to talk," Tony chimed in. "So looks like the upper hand is on the other foot," that saying got curious looks from Abby and Gibbs. "Oh man we have to get you lot educated on movies," he dug into his chicken box. He'd forgotten what the hell he ordered.

Gibbs shook his head. The food tasted as good as Chinese takeaway could taste like and that wasn't too good. "So you ever had something that just got away Tony?" Abby asked to kick start the conversation.

This was what Tony was expecting, exactly this conversation. "Back when I was in Baltimore we chased down this rookie cop for ages… The young guy turned vigilante and began going after cops that he thought was on the take," Tony said. "Unfortunately the suspect did get away," Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Some people took it hard but we had to learn to get on with it," he said.

"Not exactly the same DiNozzo," Gibbs responded. Inwardly he winced. "Every case is different… Ari Haswari is a terrorist he doesn't care who he kills," he explained.

"I'm sure he wasn't comparing the two," Abby interjected.

"What are you two doing here anyway?" Gibbs asked. They still hadn't given him a valid reason to why they were here.

"Well you see Boss-man," Abby answered before Tony could even think of a response. "You're our papa bear and you're hurting… So, me-bear, baby-bear over there came over here to see if our papa was alright," Abby had been practicing that sentence over and over.

Gibbs looked over at Tony who shrugged. "Yeah… What she said?" He laughed and Gibbs just shook his head.

There conversation was interrupted by a voice coming from the stairs. "Gibbs… It's me," Kate's voice travelled down the stairs.

"I guess that'd be Goldilocks," Tony smiled. There were times when things seemed to just fall into place.

"Goldilocks?" Kate raised her eyebrows. "I see you've already got company," she said.

"Got room for one more," Abby said as she saw the pizza and beer under Kate's arms. "Especially if you brought enough to share," she said cheerfully.

"What you guys talking about?" Kate asked as she sat on part of the boat.

"The one that has got away," Abby said. "You know, when I was going through my training there was just this DNA match that wouldn't match… To this day I swear the instructor swapped samples when I wasn't looking to make me look like a fool," Abby said with a grim smile. "Nobody makes a fool out of Abby. Think that's rule number six or something like that," she added to make light of it.

Tony laughed and looked in Kate's direction. "Kate?" Tony asked.

"I think I'll wait to hear more of your stories," Kate answered eating some of the pizza.

"Don't think they want to hear my maniac cop story again," Tony shrugged. "So spill it Katie," Tony stated.

"Gibbs?" Kate looked at her boss who was sitting quietly in the corner. "I'm sure this isn't the first person that slipped through the fingers," she said.

Gibbs studied the empty glass intently for a second before Tony filled it up. "I know it's hard to believe but no… Nobody else has slipped through my fingers," Gibbs' eyes narrowed as he took another drink.

"I'm afraid that Ari is the only person I let get away," Kate pulled a face as she drunk some of the bourbon.

"You know… It is widely believed that there is no such thing as the one that got away," Another voice entered the basement. "It's only a matter of time before the paths cross again."

"Welcome to the party Duckman," Abby said.

"I'm glad we brought enough to go around," Tony said and they were soon running out of food to. They hadn't counted on everybody joining in.

"Thank you Anthony," Ducky said as he took the mug. "You know I was coming to see if you were alright… But it looks like I've been beaten to the punch," he said. "You know, slipping through the fingers was first thought of when a young fisherman off the coast of Italy commented on dropping a fish into the water… He promptly commented, 'It slipped through my fingers,' it soon spread around that letting one slip through the fingers is the one that got away," Ducky explained.

"Welcome to the party Duck," Tony cheerily responded. "We came to see if our boss was alright," Tony laughed.

"Yeah, we have papa-bear, mama-bear and baby-bear," Abby pointed to Gibbs herself and Tony.

"Hey… Easy on the baby bear," Tony said. "Kate here's Goldilocks," he said with a smile and got a bad look from Kate in response.

"Then what about Ducky… Ducky's here to," Abby responded.

"He could be the officer who arrests Goldilocks for thievery and trespassing," Tony laughed when an empty takeaway box struck him. "Hey Kate," he said in between bouts of laughter. "Seriously though," Tony raised his glass to make a toast. "Here's to ones that won't get away and to the ones where it's a matter of time before they get caught," everybody let out a cheer. "You know," Tony laughed once again. "This reminds me so much of a series finale. All the characters getting together to get through hard times," Tony said with a smile.

* * *

A/N: Ok, I didn't realize that writing one shots like this for a whole series would be this tough. Who wants me to do series two the same way? Oh and I never thought it'd be possible to reference Maniac Cop and Goldilocks in the same story and still keep the one shot flowing. Anyone up for series 2?


End file.
